AAT annual report wins SAFA awards
At a recently held South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) best presented accounts and corporate disclosure awards ceremony in Dhaka, Bangladesh, The Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka won the first place for the best presented accounts in the ‘ Non- Governmental Organisations Sector’. This annual report also won the prestigious Gold Award under ‘NonGovernment Organisations/ Non-profit Organisations Sector’ at the Annual Report Awards 2010, conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. It is noteworthy that it was the first time AAT Sri Lanka participated in competitions of this nature in its 23 years service to the nation.
SAFA formed in the year 1984 is the apex professional body of accountants in the SAARC region having representation of accounting bodies of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. SAFA awards commenced in 1996 intended to enhance good governance, transparent reporting with adequate disclosures complying with accounting and financial reporting/auditing standards to meet stakeholder expectations following professional ethics.
Award winners are selected applying stringent criteria by an eminent panel of judges for presentation and disclosure of objectively comparable high quality, relevant, reliable financial state- ments based on International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
An award for the corporate governance disclosure was included from the year 2005 with the intention of promoting good governance in corporate bodies. The criteria for corporate governance disclosures include clear and comprehensive disclosures in annual reports on the duties of and responsibilities of directors, the structure and responsibilities of audit committees, compliance with relevant laws and regulations, commitment to employees and responsibility to the society.
AAT Sri Lanka President T. Dharmarajah commenting on the award stated that the association is honoured by the recognition by SAFA which is testament and encouragement to AAT’S commitment on transparent reporting and good governance.
The Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka is a professional accountancy body, established in 1987 on the initiative of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and is the only professional institute which conducts accountancy examinations at technician level in Sri Lanka. AATSL is an Associate Member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA).