Background to the study
The introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for small and
medium-sized enterprises, a global initiative to unify and streamline financial reporting for
small businesses, will facilitate the further growth of the SME sector globally (Grant
Thornton, one of the world's leading independently owned accounting and consulting firms.).
Freear, J. (1980) reports that causes of failure of SMEs have received little attention
compared to those of growth and expansion.