The Accounting Standards Act was passed in Parliament on 27 Aug 2007 and the Act came into effect on 1 Nov 2007. With the enactment of the Accounting Standards Act, the Accounting Standards Council (ASC) took over the task of prescribing accounting standards from the Council on Corporate Disclosure and Governance (CCDG). In addition to prescribing accounting standards for companies, the ASC will also prescribe accounting standards for charities, co-operative societies and societies. The creation of the ASC is a positive step towards ensuring consistency in accounting standards, facilitating comparison of financial statements between different entities and enhancing the credibility and transparency of financial reporting.

The ASC is responsible only for the formulation and promulgation of accounting standards. The monitoring and enforcement of compliance with accounting standards will remain the prerogative of the respective regulators, viz. ACRA for companies, Commissioner of Charities for charities, Registrar of Co-operative societies for co-operative societies and Registrar of Societies for societies.

The mandate of the ASC is to develop, review, amend and approve accounting standards for entities that are under its purview, taking into account:

1. The information needs of the stakeholders of the entities;
2. Facilitation of comparability, disclosure and transparency;
3. Compatibility with relevant international standards; and
4. Singapore's reputation as a trusted international business and financial hub.

Previous accounting standards, interpretations, practice directions and other directives issued by the CCDG would still remain valid and in force, as provided under Section 8(4) of the Accounting Standards Act, unless otherwise stated.