Founded in 1977, IFAC has 180 members and associates in 135 jurisdictions, representing more than 3 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

[3][4] The organization supports the development, adoption, and implementation of international standards for accounting education, ethics, and the public sector as well as audit and assurance.

To ensure the activities of IFAC and the independent standard-setting bodies supported by IFAC are responsive to the public interest, an international Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB) was established in February 2005 by the Monitoring Group, which was formed when it became apparent that governance reform of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) was needed.

IAASB issues International Standards on Auditing covering various services offered by professional accountants worldwide like auditing, review, other assurance, quality control, and related services.

The IAASB's objective, the scope of activities, and membership are set out in its Terms of Reference.