Accounting Certification in Central Asia

Abstract

Ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the implosion of the Soviet Union, centrally planned economies in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia have been struggling to convert their economic systems from central planning to the market. One facet of this transition is accounting certification. Under the old Soviet system there was not much need for accounting certification because Soviet accounting resembled bookkeeping more than the developed accounting systems used in advanced market economies. After the transition began, accounting certifications began to emerge but their quality was questionable, at best. It was possible to purchase accounting certification, which destroyed credibility. A few years ago the United States Agency for International Development started implementing accounting education and certification programs in some of the former Soviet republics. This paper reports on the progress that has been made in the area of accounting certification in the five Central Asian republics.

Keywords: accounting, certification, Central Asia,IFRS, USAID, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic

JEL Classification: I2, J24, J44, M4, O53, P21