As microfinance grows globally, developing commonly agreed-upon reporting standards is becoming more and more important to the credibility, standardization, and long-term prospects of the industry. This paper draws on examples from the mainstream accounting standards world, as well as from other industries with accepted standards, to illustrate the importance of, and best practice in, standards bodies to develop, maintain, and promote reporting standards within an industry.

IASB and FASB provide key examples of bodies that evolved, over time, out of existing organizations, and can inform the development of a Microfinance Reporting Standards Initiative (Reporting Standards Initiative). After examining different standards bodies and other organizations, several critical actions have been identified to create a successful reporting standards body in the microfinance industry: