**5. Conclusions**

This study aimed at investigating the perception of accounting practitioners on the transition from the former OHADA Uniform Accounting Act to the revised (now) OHADA Act on Accounting and Financial Reporting and to IFRS, taking into account their opinion on the extent to which the transition to IFRS would improve the transparency and comparability of the reported financial statements. Also, it looked at the extent to which the International Financial Reporting Standards can be completely implemented fully in the economy of Cameroon as a whole given its level of resources and within the stated time. Lastly an understanding of the costs and benefits involved in transitioning from SYCOHADA to IFRS was explored. The findings of this study are summarised as follows: with respect to the transparency and comparability of the financial statement, the results indicated that there would be a higher quality of disclosure in financial statements prepared following the International Financial Reporting Standards than under the previous OHADA Accounting Act. This is supported by the fact that the respondents believe that when reporting following the IFRS, financial statements of a company can be directly comparable with a similar company in the same industry both within and out of the country.

The study proved that financial statements prepared in accordance with the IFRS are more appropriate in presenting a true and fair view. This implies that the Cameroon accountants perceive IFRS to be a better reporting standard than the previous OHADA Uniform Accounting Act because financial statements are expected to present a true and fair picture of the company's financial situation and be free from material misstatements. In addition to that, the study also proved that the understandability of the financial statements would be greatly improved when reporting under IFRS because a greater majority understands these standards as they are used in several countries already and they present a higher quality of disclosures than OHADA. All these prove that the accountants have a positive perception about the comparability, transparency and understandability of the financial statements. The investigation on the perception of practitioners regarding the complete implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards in the economy of Cameroon proved that Cameroon does not have the structures required to carry out the revaluation of fixed assets. Hence there is a need

for an independent valuation body in Cameroon. However, the respondents attested to the fact that the nature of fixed assets in some companies is such that it can be decomposed and recorded separately.

The study also found out that the accountants in Cameroon understand the distinguishing factors in the IFRS for small and medium-size enterprises, and they would be able to prepare their financial statements for the year ending in December 2018 in accordance with the IFRS. However, though the accountants believe that they can prepare the financial reports in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards, there is still insufficient evidence to attest to the fact that companies in Cameroon have understood the changes in the statistics and tax return filling and that many clients would be able to prepare their tax returns in accordance with the laws for the 2018 financial year. It should be dully noted that Cameroon implemented just part of the IFRS, which is the reporting standards for publicly listed companies and group companies that report internationally. The IFRS for SME's is still under review. The advantages and disadvantages of implementing IFRS are peculiar to respective countries based on the availability of resources. Cost and complex nature have been a cause of concern for implementing and adopting IFRS. There are of course positive gains regarding the implementation of IFRS. However, there are serious concerns about the cost and benefits associated with IFRS. All the respondents agreed that implementing IFRS would increase the relevance of accounting information for decision making and it would increase the opportunities of Cameroon companies for assessing global markets.

They also attested to the fact that presenting financial statements in accordance with the IFRS would assure greater accessibility of funds for Cameroonian companies, lower the cost of capital, provide professional opportunities to Cameroonian professionals and of course make the business climate more welcoming to investors. However, there are major concerns attributed to the transition, as the respondents supported the fact that the IFRS is a more complicated statute to adhere to than the OHADA. The transition does not come with previous knowledge, and as such, every company would have to train its staff on the new standards and these trainings and workshops are usually very costly and time-consuming. The transition would also require a change in the accounting process which may be attributed to the higher quality of disclosures when reporting under IFRS. It was also uncovered in the course of the study that the increase in the disclosure may tend to be troublesome because when too much information is made available, deciphering may become difficult for shareholders. In addition to that, the findings of the study also included the fact that implementing IFRS would require significant changes in the information technology infrastructure of several organisations and would also require significant changes in various existing laws.

In sum, this study on the perception of accounting practitioners on the transition from OHADA General Accepted Accounting Principles to IFRS in Cameroon sought specifically the respondents' views pertaining to transparency and comparability of IFRS, the extent to which the IFRS can be implemented in the economy of Cameroon and the costs and benefits involved in transitioning from OHADA to IFRS. Data were collected using questionnaires administered to a sample of 50 respondents constituting accountants in Cameroon businesses. Accounting practitioners have a positive perception of the cost/benefits of IFRS transition in Cameroon. It was concluded that full IFRS could not be completely implemented in Cameroon given Cameroon's resources, especially within the slated time. However, there is need for further research to be done in this area. Further studies should focus on investigating whether the perception of accountants is independent of their individual attributes like age, education, experience and qualification to bring about uniformity in the reporting structures. It is necessary to investigate the extent to which the IFRS was actually implemented in Cameroon and understand the challenges and opportunities that actually arose after the implementation of the new reporting standards. One of the limitations is that it is specific to Cameroon. We had as one of our principal objectives to widen the scope, but due to limited information we were restricted only to Cameroon. Further research will include other African countries that had adopted the OHADA Accounting System. Consistently, Tawiah and Boolaky (2019) shows that in most African Countries there is a very slow implementation process of the IFRS. His study suggests that amongst the

African countries examined, 18 African nations required their companies to report financial statements according to IFRS, meanwhile, 23 did not permit their companies to report according to the IFRS. Thus, the above discussion shows that Cameroon needs the local institutional capacity and professional training to smoothen the path towards the transition of IFRS.

#### **6. Recommendations of the Study**

The first priority of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is to improve financial reporting for the benefit of investors and other users of financial information. It is done by striving to set the highest-quality standards, which collectively are known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The IASB is a key participant in the development of the IFRS. The benefits of having internationally comparable financial statements are abound. However, the results from the study reveal that the respondents were not aware of whether the financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS were comparable or not. This shows that their knowledge on IFRS was limited, hence seminars and focus group discussions should be organised to educate the experts on all the benefits of this transition.

It is necessary to revalue fixed assets to bring them to their proper fair value when reporting under the IFRS. However, the results from the study reveal that there are no proper structures in Cameroon to carry out the revaluation of fixed assets. Hence the ministry of finance and the government at large should ensure that such structures are put in place in order to reduce the level of material misstatement in fixed assets.

More so, results showed that clients do not fully understand the IFRS and were not certain if their clients would be able to prepare their financial statements in accordance with the IFRS. It is worth noting that the IFRS provides momentous changes to the manner of reporting financial transactions. Hence, there is an inexorable need to train the auditors and accountants on these changes. In view of this, it is worth proposing that the accounting body in Cameroon (ONECCA) should strive to ensure that all accountants have a proper understanding of the IFRS that guides the preparation of their financial statements in their sector of business. In line with the cost-benefit analysis of IFRS implementation, the findings showed that transitioning to IFRS requires the training of staff which is costly to organisations, and it also requires too much disclosure of financial information which is troublesome to businesses. Likewise, implementation of IFRS would require significant changes in various existing laws. To address these issues, it was recommended that businesses should evaluate the overwhelming benefits that IFRS have on their businesses such that the accompanying cost can be undermined. Considering that the trainings would have a ripple effect on several parties, the organisers should see into it that these trainings are very affordable for all and the both languages should be represented. The fundamental reason for utilising this research method was due to the fact that a qualitative survey is holistic, and it allowed us to develop an initial understanding of how people think and feel. It equally permitted a primary study of a large and diversified population with the possibility of adequately studying a sample while still maintaining the validity and reliability.

#### **7. Limitation of Study**

Our study is limited to the sociability of the respondents. This might be bias. However, this is because we were more concerned with examining the perceptions of professional accountants which might impose some incomplete information to the study.

**Author Contributions:** Data curation, M.F.F. and L.A.T.N.; Formal analysis, H.M.S.d.O. and C.M.F.P.; Methodology, S.A.M.C.B.; Writing—review & editing, L.M.P. All authors have read and agree to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** The authors received no external funding for the research, authorship, and publication of this article.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and publication of this article.
