Audit Committees in need of IFRS help?

For audit committees, IFRS stands as a huge challenge. The new standards are a reality. Deal with it. It really is up the committee to get the firm through the transition. But few audit committees really have a lot of expertise in this area. Barry Jay Epstein, partner at Russell Novak & Company, says now is the time for audit committee members to ramp up their knowledge. Now may also be the time for the committee to consider hiring outside accounting experts. "Audit committees have been very slow to awaken to the value of engaging expert counsel of their own, which has to be funded by the companies they serve, if they request this," he says. But IFRS is critical to your company. It may be worth it. Alternatively, if you just don't want to deal with it, you should probably step off the committee now.