Accounting is the language of business! (or, alternatively, no it isn’t!)

Let’s play another round of “Great Cliches of IFRS” – Well, that’s probably enough already. The familiar “language of business” phrase is often attributed to Warren Buffet; a recent LinkedIn post by Accent Financial Services cited him in this regard and then expanded: “In business, there are three main “languages” – #accounting, #finance, and #economics. In order to…

ChatGPT wrote this blog post!

The last post covered the recent exposure draft of “Annual Improvements to IFRS Accounting Standards – Volume 11” Shortly after drafting that, it occurred to me that I hadn’t directly experienced the ChatGPT that everyone’s talking about, although I’d heard a few things about its ability to knock out a usable first draft on virtually…

Annual Improvements to IFRS, or: no more leaks!

The IASB recently issued its exposure draft of “Annual Improvements to IFRS Accounting Standards – Volume 11”, with comments requested by December 11, 2023. So look, suppose someone says to you, I just improved my home; and you say, sounds great, what did you do; and he says, I fixed a leaky faucet….well, you might…

Inside standard setting, or: slow down. you’re paddling too fast!

Continuing on our recent theme of happy takes on accounting… …this time from a perhaps unexpected source, the Chair of Canada’s Accounting Standards Board, Armand Capisciolto. He’s instigated a series of “Inside Standard Setting” articles, comprising “A little “inside baseball” on accounting standard setting” – a serious purpose, executed with a light touch. The first…

Financial statements as narratives, or: no more stories!

Well, it’s been a few years since the last installment, so let’s continue the periodic series I call “Great Cliches of IFRS.” Today’s example – well, you’ll see: And I could go on indefinitely. You may already be thinking that even if it is a cliché, it’s one that’s worth repeating for the sake of…

Some share-based payment issues, or: accelerated confusion!

Here’s the background to an issue recently considered by Canada’s IFRS Discussion Group: This provides a nice opportunity to throw a few stones at IFRS 2, which I haven’t done for a few years. You’ll recall that the standard is based on the assumption that since no one gets something for nothing, an entity issuing…

ESG due diligence, or: cancel culture!

Over Half of M&A Dealmakers have Canceled Deals on ESG Due Diligence Findings, states an ESG Today report on a recent KPMG survey. Here’s some of what it had to say: This is somewhat significant, but leaves many questions for its significance to be entirely “loud and clear.” At its simplest, the due diligence process…

Talking to investors, whoever they are…

Is there a term that’s applied more unproductively in the world of standard-setting and regulation than “investors”? It’s easy (and perhaps inevitable) for example to cite “investor protection” as a justification for almost anything a regulator might be inclined to do. But of course, “investors” is an extremely broad category, incorporating a wide range of…

Adopting the ISSB standards – time is of the essence!

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) recently announced their endorsement of the ISSB’s Sustainability-related Financial Disclosures Standards. Here’s an extract: The IFRS Foundation is working on an adoption guide to support jurisdictions in adopting the standards, and already published a “high-level roadmap” as a precursor to that. This acknowledges that, of course, regardless of…