Financial Reporting Conversations

How has the accounting profession changed over the past 25 years, and has practice kept pace? In this opening episode of Inside the Accounting Profession series, Wayne Basford and Bruce Andrews discuss the forces reshaping the accounting profession, from technology and professional-firm bureaucracy to corporate governance and IFRS application. 🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn: Why large profession...

IFRS has been with us for more than 20 years, but has it really changed financial reporting in practice? In this episode of Financial Reporting Conversations , Wayne Basford and Judith Leung are joined by James Scott from JD Scott & Co. to unpack the IFRS Practice Gap: the difference between what the standards say and what companies actually produce. 🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn: Why IFRS...

When an audit fails, the issue is not always a bad test or a missed checklist. Sometimes, the real problem is that the engagement partner was missing when it mattered most. In this episode of Financial Reporting Conversations , Wayne Basford and Judith Leung unpack why the engagement partner must be involved early, not just at final review. They explore how weak planning, poor risk identification,...

AI in accounting is changing how technical papers, reports, training content, and audit resources are prepared. But faster does not always mean better. In this episode of Financial Reporting Conversations, Wayne Basford and Judith Leung discuss how AI in accounting can improve efficiency, support technical research, and help professionals produce more polished work.  They also unpack the risks: co...

When an audit goes wrong, the problem is not always that the auditor missed the issue. Sometimes, the issue was known but not communicated early, clearly, or to the right people. In this episode of Financial Reporting Conversations , we unpack audit communication failures . Wayne and Judith discuss why communication with management, those charged with governance, shareholders, creditors, and regul...

When companies collapse shortly after receiving a clean audit opinion, the same question always follows: where were the auditors? But audit failure rarely begins at the moment the opinion is signed. In this episode of Financial Reporting Conversations, Wayne Basford and Judith Leung unpack how audit failures quietly develop through a cascade of decisions made throughout the audit process from clie...

When companies collapse shortly after receiving a clean audit opinion, attention often turns to technical failures. But what if the deeper issue is commercial pressure inside the audit process itself? In this episode of the Why Audits Go Wrong series, we explore how commercial pressure, fee dependence, and client retention incentives can quietly erode audit quality. Wayne Basford and Judith Leung...

When audit failures occur, the focus almost always turns to the audit file — missed procedures, weak evidence, or poor judgment. But what if audit failures are actually driven by something more fundamental? In this episode, we examine whether audit failures are caused by resource constraints within the engagement team. From insufficient technical expertise and lack of industry knowledge to unreali...

When a company collapses shortly after a clean audit opinion, the same question always comes up: where were the auditors? But audit failure rarely starts in the audit file. In this episode of Financial Reporting Conversations , part of the Why Audits Go Wrong series, we walk through the 7-step audit failure timeline , showing how audit failure develops from weak governance, management pressure, an...

Identifying the acquirer under IFRS 3 sounds simple until reverse acquisition scenarios prove otherwise. One of the most common errors in IFRS 3 is getting the acquirer wrong, and when that happens, the entire set of financial statements can be materially misstated. In this episode, we unpack how reverse acquisition issues arise, why legal form often misleads, and how to correctly identify the acq...

When a company collapses after a clean audit opinion, the immediate question is always the same: where were the auditors? But audit failure rarely starts in the audit file. In this episode, we unpack why audit failure is often the result of deeper issues from poor client acceptance decisions to weak systems of quality management and commercial pressures inside audit firms. We explore how audit fai...

The most dangerous phase in mining isn’t exploration, it’s development. This is where projects become capital intensive, assumptions get tested, and going concern risks start to emerge. In this episode, we unpack the financial reporting challenges that arise as mining entities transition out of IFRS 6 into IAS 36, and why this shift often exposes deeper issues. We explore how going concern becomes...

Auditing fraud risk in China is not just a technical challenge it can mean auditing businesses that don’t exist. In this episode, Wayne Basford and Judith Leung explore how audit fraud risk in China and emerging markets operates at a fundamentally different level. Drawing on real-world cases and lessons from the China Hustle , they explain why standard audit procedures can fail when transactions,...

Financial reporting standards have existed for decades. Yet revenue recognition errors continue to appear in financial statements, audit files, and regulatory findings under IFRS 15 . So why does revenue recognition still go wrong under IFRS 15 ? In this episode, Wayne Basford and Judith Leung explore the practical judgement areas that cause recurring mistakes when applying IFRS 15 Revenue from Co...

Financial reporting standards have existed for decades. Yet the same mistakes continue to appear in financial statements, audit files, and regulatory findings. So why does financial reporting still go wrong? In this episode, Wayne Basford and Judith Leung explore the recurring issues they see across audits, financial statements, and regulatory reviews. They discuss why standards that appear straig...

Get the IFRS 3 gateway wrong, and every number that follows is wrong. Before goodwill is measured, before fair values are calculated, before disclosures are drafted, there is one critical judgment that determines everything: does IFRS 3 apply at all? In this episode, Wayne Basford and Judith Leung examine the gateway question at the heart of IFRS 3. They unpack why the distinction between a busine...

Why are so many firms treating ASQM 1 as a compliance exercise until ASIC starts asking difficult questions? In this episode, Wayne Basford and Judith Leung unpack what they are seeing in practice from reviewing systems of quality management. They discuss why many firms misunderstood ASQM 1 as a one-off implementation task, why boilerplate risk registers are failing in the real world, and how lead...

Why do so many financial reporting risks only become obvious after ASIC starts asking questions? In this episode, Wayne Basford and Judith Leung share their 2026 financial reporting predictions and reflect on where the real risks are likely to emerge for preparers, auditors, and audit committees. They discuss why mandatory climate reporting may be less dramatic than many expect, why audit quality...

Why does the financial reporting profession struggle with clarity, engagement, and getting the complex things right the first time? In this episode, Wayne, Judith, and producer Chris reflect on what they’ve learned from building Financial Reporting Conversations and why tone, structure, and practical relevance matter just as much as technical accuracy. They unpack the real gap this podcast is tryi...

Why do financial reporting frauds emerge in organisations that don’t see themselves as high-risk? In this episode, Wayne and Judith unpack the real drivers behind financial reporting fraud and explain why these risks often grow quietly inside day-to-day commercial decisions. They break down the fraud triangle and show how pressure, opportunity, and rationalisation combine to create misstatements t...

Why are so many organisations struggling with sustainability reporting even before their first S2 statement is due? In this episode, Wayne and Siobhan unpack the biggest myths they’re seeing across the market and explain why these misunderstandings are creating unnecessary work, bad advice, and real reporting risks. They break down the areas causing the most confusion: whether S2 is only about emi...

Why are the same financial reporting mistakes still appearing every year, even with no new standards to blame? In this episode, Wayne and Judith unpack the recurring issues they saw across the June 2025 reporting season and why these errors continue to trip up preparers and auditors. They break down the themes causing the most trouble: boilerplate or missing accounting policies, “single segment” d...

When does going concern become more than just an accounting phrase and turn into the question that determines whether a business survives? In this episode, Wayne and Judith break down what IFRS (IAS 1) and ISA 570 really require when assessing an entity’s going concern assumption. They walk through the key steps: identifying uncertainties, assessing materiality, and determining when those uncertai...