Business combinations under common control – applying the acquisition method

Let’s return to the IASB’s discussion paper Business Combinations under Common Control, on which comments are requested by September 1, 2021. As we discussed previously, the main proposal is that fair-value information should be provided when a business combination under common control affects shareholders outside the group. In all other cases, the Board is suggesting…

The (mostly unappealing) state of the bitcoin nation

“One of the world’s largest accounting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has accepted its first ever bitcoin payment,” announced a recent story on cryptocurrencynews.com  It went on: PwC accepted bitcoin as payment for its advisory services, as it is currently working with multiple startups that deal in bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry. PwC has also started to…

Going concern – all entirely obvious, except the parts that aren’t

Here’s a tentative agenda decision recently issued for comment by IFRIC: The Committee received a request about the accounting applied by an entity that is no longer a going concern (as described in paragraph 25 of IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements). The request asked whether such an entity…can prepare financial statements for prior periods on…

Sustainability reporting standards – meeting the needs of capital markets (did we leave anyone out?)

Momentum continues toward establishing a sustainability standards board… One of the most recent bulletins came in the wake of a meeting of IFRS Foundation trustees in early March, including the following: The Trustees welcomed the February 2021 public statement by the IOSCO Board, announcing IOSCO’s intention to work with the IFRS Foundation in developing a plan…

We’re out of here in two months, so let’s write it down now, no?

You’ll recall that right of use assets recognized under leasing arrangements are subject to the impairment requirements of IAS 36, and tested for impairment when indicators exist… If such indicators exist, an entity determines whether the ROU asset can be tested on a stand-alone basis or whether it should be tested as part of a…

Disclosing accounting policies – cut out the excess crap!

The IASB has issued Disclosure of Accounting Policies – Amendments to IAS 1 and IFRS Practice Statement 2 IAS 1 currently requires that “an entity shall disclose its significant accounting policies comprising: (a) the measurement basis (or bases) used in preparing the financial statements; and (b) the other accounting policies used that are relevant to…

Covid-19 disclosures – we were encouraged by the quality of your portrait of hell…

The Canadian Securities Administrators have issued CSA Notice 51-362 Staff Review of COVID-19 Disclosures and Guide for Disclosure Improvements, based on reviewing “the continuous disclosure filings of approximately 90 issuers across a broad spectrum of industries and size of operations, focusing on the disclosures of the most recent reporting period ending September 30, 2020.” Here’s…