The revised Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (Conceptual Framework) issued in March 2018 is effective immediately for the International Accounting Standards Board (Board) and the IFRS Interpretations Committee. For companies that use the Conceptual Framework to develop accounting policies when no IFRS Standard applies to a particular transaction, the revised Conceptual Framework is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2020, with earlier application permitted. The Conceptual Framework sets out the fundamental concepts for financial reporting that guide the Board in developing IFRS Standards. It helps to ensure that the Standards are conceptually consistent and that similar transactions are treated the same way, so as to provide useful information for investors, lenders and other creditors. In July 2009, the International Accounting Standards Board (the Board) issued the IFRS for SMEs Standard (the SMEs Standard) and amended in 2015. This standard provides an alternative framework that can be applied by eligible entities in place of the full set of International Financial Reporting Standards. The principal aim when developing accounting standards for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is to provide a framework that generates relevant, reliable, and useful information which should provide a high quality and understandable set of accounting standards suitable for SMEs.

a. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the conceptual framework in financial reporting?

b. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of IFRS for SMEs with suitable examples. Support your findings through referring to other academically accepted research sources (research articles, and conference papers). You should use a minimum of six (6) reference sources in compiling this report.