Horwath completes training on IFRS for SMEs

Press Release

•  Oman Tribune , 22-October-09

•  Times of Oman , 29 th October-09

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has recently issued an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) designed for use by SMEs. Horwath Mak Ghazali LLC, a top ten international audit and consulting firm, organized a two-day training program on IFRS for SMEs aiming at demystifying the requirements of the newly introduced standard.

The Director General of Development of SMEs from MOCI, Salah Bin Hilal Al-Maawali, was the Chief Guest and he inaugurated the program. He said, “SMEs need to focus on proper Financial Reporting and use the new standard to their benefit”. He lauded the effort of firms doing the training programs to help the SMEs in various knowledge areas.

“According to IASB, 95% of companies in the world are SMEs and so it is in Oman and hence the applicability will be widespread,” said Davis Kallukaran, Managing Partner of Horwath Mak Ghazali.

Amarjeet Majumdar, Consulting Partner of Horwath, said that, “Programs like these will create awareness and help SMEs to reduce the undue cost burden of reporting, using the simplified standards”.

The two-day training program was conducted at Haffa House Hotel on 20th and 21st October 2009. In addition to training and development, Horwath - Business Advisory Services offers a wide spectrum of professional services in Corporate Governance, Risk, Quality and HR consulting to the corporate world in Oman .

Computer aided audit tools have brought about dynamic changes in the practice of the audit profession. Be it in the Government organizations or in the private sector, modern computerized audit tools capable of data analysis have become a vital tool in the hands of the auditors said His Excellency Nasser Al Rawahy The Deputy Chairman of the state audit Institution. He was making the inaugural address at the three day workshop on Continuous auditing with IDEA Data Analysis soft ware organized by Horwath Mak Ghazali, a leading firm of Chartered Accountants and Business advisors practicing in Muscat. The three-day workshop at the Haffa House Hotel in Muscat is being attended by auditors from the industry, regulators and the state audit institution.

Mr Jairam Rajshekar, the faculty is an acclaimed international instructor on IDEA Data analysis software who has trained hundreds of auditors from the State audit institutions in India and abroad. He said that the State audit institutions are far ahead in the use of Computer assisted audit tools compared to its counterparts in the private sector. Earlier Mr Davis Kallukaran, The Managing partner welcoming the chief guest and the delegates said that Audit tools facilitated through the use of computers have dramatically modernized the audit approach right from the planning stage to reporting. He added that these are very helpful in the investigations as well, wherein we look at the integrity of the whole accounting system. Mr Amarjeet Majumdar, Partner Business Advisory services, introduced the chief guest to the participants. Horwath Mak Ghazali is a member firm of Horwath International, the eighth largest accounting networks worldwide. The firm Horwath & Horwath was established in the United States in 1907 and since then grown into a multi-dimensional practice spread over 102 countries through 565 offices and about 26,250 partners and staff. The firm is highly specialized in the Hotel Travel and Leisure business and is considered as the number one provider of consultancy services in these areas across the world.

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In the present competitive globalised business environment, effective communication is more essential than ever before. Horwath, as a part of its client educative series of programs, conducted an intensive one-day public training program on Enhancing Communication Skills, on 28th July 2009 at Haffa house Hotel, Muscat.

The participant companies included AES Barka SAOG, National Life & General Insurance Company SAOC, Al Hajiry Trading LLC, Voltamp Energy SAOG & AL Andalus Trading Establishment.  The training program gave the participants an opportunity to understand how communication works and how to communicate effectively with flair within and outside the Company.

Mr. S. M. Devadason, the faculty of the program is an international corporate trainer & an MBA gold medallist from XLRI. He is also a Certified Neurolinguistic Programming Practitioner and has a vast experience of 43 years as Executive, General Manager, Director and Management Consultant/Trainer. He is currently working with over 200 organisations in India and abroad on consulting & training assignments

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Horwath conducted a one-day Communication Skills training program exclusively for the staff of Dalma Energy LLC on 27th July 2009 at Haffa House Hotel, Muscat.

Participants from different departments of the organisation attended this intensive and highly interactive of the organisation in order to improve their skills & thus learn how to communicate with confidence. The active participation & contribution of the participants in the program made the event a great success

The faculty Mr. S.M. Devadason, is an MBA gold medallist from XLRI and a renowned international corporate trainer & management consultant from India.

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Horwath has successfully conducted its third program on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) at Haffa House Hotel, Muscat on May 6 & 7, 2009. More than 30 professionals from various industry sectors attended this 2-day intensive training program.

The delegates included Accountants, Financial Controllers, Auditors, and Financial Analysts from both government & private sector organizations. The vast knowledge & experience of the faculty, Mr. K Kanagaraj, helped the participants to gain an insight into the standards.

The program was very relevant as IFRS-compliant financial statements are the present day requirements in almost all countries. Countries around the world are looking for a common set of global accounting standards that provide transparency, consistency, and comparability in Financial Reporting. This helps in translating performance of the companies situated across the Globe understandable to the business community located on the opposite side. Such a comparable presentation also helps in bringing out strength and weaknesses in the financial reporting system prevailing in any country and helps investors and funding agencies in decision making and investment strategies.

Currently, 109 countries are making use of IFRS for listed companies [including the European Union, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, GCC countries, Russia, South Africa, Singapore and Turkey]. In India, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the principal body for setting accounting standards in the country, has announced that it will be mandatory of all large entities to apply IFRS in preparation of their general purpose accounting statements from 2011 onwards. This has opened up a plethora of opportunities for accounting professionals worldwide to look at India for carrier growth.

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PRESS RELEASE: Oman Tribune, 08-Apr-09
IFRS training programme concludes

A training programme on the application and disclosure requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) was conducted by Horwath Mak Ghazali LLC at Al Falaj Hotel on April 1st and 2nd, according to a press release. Over 50 CFO’s and accountants were briefed on the relevance and practical application of IFRS by K Kanagaraj, a practicing Chartered Accountant from India and an eminent scholar specialising IFRS. Besides, conducting workshops for various ICAI chapters in India on behalf of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), he has also delivered training programmes on IFRS in many large corporates in India and abroad.

The two-day review programme covered the key standards that dealt with the recognition and measurements of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and their impact on the financial statements. It also enabled the participants to understand and analyse the financial statements through an understanding of IFRS principles.

The training programme which started with an introduction to IFRS and the concepts covered amongst other things certain important standards extensively on presentation of Financial Statements, inventory, impairment of assets, Property Plant and Equipment, Leases, revenue, provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets, cash flow statements, accounting policies, changes in accounting estimates and errors, Intangible Assets and events after the reporting period.

“The training programme on IFRS was the second client education programme being conducted with in the last six months by the firm,” said Davis Kallukaran, Managing Partner.

Mentioning about the success of the training programme, Amarjeet Majumdar, Partner, Business Advisory Services, said, “Investing in training & development would enable companies to leverage their human resource potential and thereby improve the overall organizational performance.”

PRESS RELEASE- Times of Oman: 11 Apr-2009
Horwath holds training on financial reporting

Horwath Mak Ghazali LLC has conducted an intensive training programme on the application and disclosure requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) at Al Falaj Hotel. Over 50 CFO’s and accountants were briefed on the relevance and practical application of IFRS by K Kanagaraj, a practicing Chartered Accountant from India and an eminent scholar specialising in of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Besides conducting workshops for various ICAI chapters in India on behalf of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), he has also delivered training programmes on IFRS in many large corporates in India and abroad. The two-day review programme covered the key standards that dealt with the recognition and measurements of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and their impact on the financial statements. It also enabled the participants to understand and analyse the financial statements through an understanding of IFRS framework and principles. The training programme which started with an introduction to IFRS and there under, covered amongst other things certain important standards extensively on Presentation Of Financial Statements, Inventory, Impairment Of Assets, Property Plant And Equipment, Leases, Revenue, Provisions, Contingent Liabilities And Contingent Assets, Cash Flow Statements, Accounting Policies, Changes In Accounting Estimates and Errors, Intangible Assets, and events after the reporting period, etc.

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PRESS RELEASE: Oman Tribune

An intensive training programme on the application and disclosure requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) was conducted recently by Horwath Mak Ghazali LLC, exclusively for Electricity Holding Company and its subsidiaries. The week- long programme was conducted at the Haffa House hotel. The review programme covered the key standards that deal with the recognition and measurements of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and their impact on the financial statements. It also enabled the participants to understand and analyze the financial statements through an understanding of IFRS principles.

K. Kanagaraj who conducted this training programme is a practicing Chartered Accountant from India and an eminent scholar specialising in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Besides, delivering training programmes on IFRS for many large corporates in India on behalf of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), he has also conducted workshops for various ICAI chapters in India.

Mr. Kanagaraj explained that such training programmes provide the needed impetus to understand the intricacies of IFRS in a simplistic way. The programme was a combination of lectures, case studies, practical exercises and interactive question and answer sessions.

Horwath Mak Ghazali LLC formerly known as AGN Mak Ghazali LLC is a pioneer in Oman for carrying out the review programmes for the US qualifications of CPA/ CMA/ CFM and CIA. They are a member firm of Horwath International, the eight largest accounting network worldwide. The firm Horwath & Horwath was established in the United States in 1907 and since then grown into a multi-dimensional practice spread over 100 countries through 560 offices and about 26,000 partners and staff.

Horwath Mak Ghazali, a limited liability company, registered in Oman, came into instantaneous prominence because of their quality services. The motto of Horwath, member firm is “Caring, Sharing, Investing and Growing” said Mr. Davis Kallukaran, Managing Partner of the firm. After almost one and a half decades of dedicated service, Horwath is considered one of the top ten firms in Oman providing multidimensional practice. The firm offers consulting services on Risk Management, Corporate Governance, Strategy consulting, ISO, HR consulting and Financial modeling. “The consulting team has a wide and varied experience and delivers value to clients” said Mr. Amarjeet Majumdar, Partner, Business Advisory Services