At its meeting on September 17-18, 2019, the AcSB considered the field-test results and feedback from its Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee on the draft proposals for the initial measurement of a combination between organizations within the scope of Part III of the CPA Canada Handbook – Accounting. The AcSB decided to:

1. refine the criteria to determine whether a transaction should be accounted for as a merger or an acquisition to reduce the potential for diversity;
2. require the disclosure of the rationale for undertaking a merger or acquisition;
3. add illustrative examples on the application of the criterion; and
4. add an illustrative example on the application of the disclosure requirements for combinations accounted for as a merger.

The AcSB reconfirmed that the scope of the standard will include combinations under common control. It also provided comments on the proposed Handbook text and the draft Basis for Conclusions. The Board approved the issuance of an Exposure Draft subject to final drafting changes and a written ballot. The AcSB plans to issue the Exposure Draft in January 2020 with a 90-day comment period.

Review the Executive Summary on the AcSB's Web site.