IFRS 15 in action – part 3

Let’s take a look at some other recent examples of changes resulting from the implementation of IFRS 15. This is from UGE International Ltd.: I mentioned before that although the standard is called “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” we may – who knows – identify some cases over time where the bottom-line impact flows as…

Principles of disclosure – what we talk about when we talk about financial statements

Let’s return to the IASB’s Principles of Disclosure discussion paper, for which the comment period closed in October…. The discussion paper carved out some space to describe an approach developed by the staff of the New Zealand Accounting Standards Board, with the following main features: (a) the inclusion of disclosure objectives, comprising an overall disclosure objective…

Accounting policy changes – a bigger carrot

The IASB has issued Accounting Policy Changes, an exposure draft of proposed changes to IAS 8, with comments to be received by July 27, 2018. The exposure draft proposes adding the following new definition to IAS 8: An agenda decision is a decision published by the IFRS Interpretations Committee explaining its rationale for not adding…

Reducing the regulatory burden, or maybe just jiggling it…

I wrote last year about the Canadian Securities Administrators’ CSA Consultation Paper 51-404 Considerations for Reducing Regulatory Burden for Non-Investment Fund Reporting Issuers, seeking “comments on potential options for reducing regulatory burden for non-investment fund reporting issuers in the public markets.” The CSA has now issued CSA Staff Notice 51-313, providing an update on what came of…

Cash-generating units – whatever you do, don’t touch!

A European example of issues arising in applying IAS 36 As part of its activities, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) organizes a forum of enforcers from 30 different European jurisdictions, all of whom carry out monitoring and review programs similar to those carried out here by the Canadian Securities Administrators. ESMA recently published…

Principles of disclosure – take your paper and, uh…

Let’s return to the IASB’s Principles of Disclosure discussion paper, for which the comment period closed in October…. I commented last time that it’s very much a document for a linear, paper-based world, barely acknowledging the impact of technology. This is how the IASB staff summed it up in a staff paper: Many respondents were…

Principles of disclosure – stop me before I over-explain!

We looked briefly last April at the IASB’s Principles of Disclosure discussion paper, for which the comment period closed in October…. Although accounting policy disclosures aren’t usually among the most decision-critical aspects of any particular set of financial statements, they often contribute very disproportionately to their overall volume. My anecdotal impression is that many larger…

IFRS – a clear gift to the world!

How IFRS provides benefits to emerging jurisdictions From time to time (or perhaps more often than that) I cite various doubts or reservations about the utility of IFRS financial statements. Let’s forget about that today and focus on areas where the benefits of IFRS-compliant reporting seem to be a bit clearer. This is from an…