A study done by IASB for around 31,000 small companies in 68 developing countries
and emerging markets found that private firms with greater financial transparency experience
significantly lower problems with gaining access to external finance (and obtain those funds
at a lower cost) than other private firms. There is strong evidence that accounting quality
positively affects investment efficiency (i.e., is negatively correlated to both underinvestment
and overinvestment).
The research found out that all the SMEs in study make use of IFRS but there has been
a growing demand for the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya-ICPAK (a body
charged with the responsibility of formulating accounting reporting standards in the country)
to produce a standard more suited to businesses without public accountability.