The paper explores valuation inspections and considers the benefits and challenges associated with various types of inspections, including traditional physical inspections and technology-based virtual assessments. It is intended to support the valuation community by offering insights and practical guidance on navigating the complexities of asset inspections, thereby ensuring the reliability and accuracy of valuations.

 The series on perspectives papers is now as follows:

• The Case for Realigning Reporting Standards with Modern Value Creation (September 2021)
• Human Capital Introspective (May 2022)
• Rethinking Brand Value (September 2022)

• Deciphering Technology (July 2023)
• Data and Valuation (March 2024)
• Inspection of Tangible Assets (June 2024)

Access the press release on the IVSC’s website.

The blog post discusses integrating GPT-4 with XBRL data to enhance narrative disclosure analysis, particularly in areas like sustainability disclosures and accounting policies. It highlights how machine learning and generative AI can simplify the interpretation of complex narrative data without requiring extensive coding knowledge.

The author provides examples of how GPT-4 can detect changes in accounting policies and calculate TF-IDF scores (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency, a measure of importance of a word to a document) for thematic analysis in going concern disclosures. This capability allows analysts to derive insights more efficiently and with greater depth, making it easier to compare, spot patterns, and potentially uncover issues such as greenwashing in corporate reports.

Access the blog on the XBRL’s website.

In her address, the Managing Director emphasized the crucial role of international regulatory and supervisory communities in maintaining economic stability and growth. She underscores the dynamic pace of change driven by technological advancements like blockchain, crypto, and AI, which challenge traditional financial systems and bring opportunities and risks.

The Managing Director highlighted AI's transformative potential in enhancing productivity and economic progress and pointed to significant risks, such as cybersecurity threats and the potential for systemic instabilities. She advocates for a vigilant approach to managing these emerging risks through improved diagnostics, strengthened regulation, and robust crisis management, stressing the importance of international cooperation in navigating the future financial landscape.

Access the speech on the IMF’s website.

IG 1 Materiality Assessment Implementation Guidance provides an illustrative materiality assessment process for entities and develops the concept of impact and financial materiality on examples, including how these concepts interact. It also contains FAQs on the double materiality assessment to provide practical implementation guidance on disclosing material impacts, risks and opportunities.

IG 2 Value Chain Implementation Guidance outlines the reporting requirements for value chain information, including the materiality assessment, policies and actions, and metrics and targets. It illustrates the reporting boundary for a group for sustainability reporting, including operational control in environmental standards. The IG also includes FAQs for further information and a 'value chain map' summarising the implications for each disclosure requirement across all ESRS.

IG 3 List of ESRS Datapoints includes all requirements in the complete first set of ESRS in an Excel format. The file contains additional information, such as the requirement types (quantitative or qualitative) or whether these are subject to transitional provisions. IG 3 has been published together with an explanatory note.

The EFRAG Secretariat has also published feedback statements illustrating how the feedback received during the consultation has been reflected in the final documents.

Access the press release on EFRAG’s website.

The guide is a tailored version of Sustainability Reporting—The Guide To Preparation to help SMEs determine, collect, and communicate sustainability-related information. It is based on the requirements of the ISSB standards because the ACCA expects that many of the sustainability-related information requests to SMEs are based on those standards.

The guide sets out the following eight stages of sustainability reporting for SMEs:

1. Allocating responsibility for sustainability reporting
2. Establishing the reporting landscape
3. Determining the material sustainability-related information to be reported
4. Determining the data requirements
5. Collecting the data
6. Reporting on the collected data
7. Implementing reporting
8. Verifying what is reported, and continual improvement

Access the guide on the ACCA’s website.

These amendments respond to feedback from the 2022 Post-implementation Review of the Accounting Standard and clarify the requirements in areas where stakeholders have raised concerns, or where new issues have emerged since IFRS 9 was issued.

These include:

• Clarifying the classification of financial assets with environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and similar features— ESG-linked loan features can influence their measurement at amortized cost or fair value. Stakeholders queried the determination process based on cash flow characteristics. The amendments provide clarity on assessing contractual cash flows to avoid divergence in practices.
• Settlement of liabilities through electronic payment systems— Stakeholders noted difficulties in applying IFRS 9 derecognition rules to settlements via electronic cash transfers. Amendments clarify the derecognition date for financial assets or liabilities. The IASB also plans to create an accounting policy allowing early derecognition of financial liabilities under certain criteria.

With these amendments, the IASB has also introduced additional disclosure requirements to enhance transparency for investors regarding investments in equity instruments designated at fair value through other comprehensive income and financial instruments with contingent features, for example features tied to ESG-linked targets.

The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026.

Access the press release on the IASB’s website.

Under U.S. GAAP, entities must display both basic and diluted EPS prominently on the income statement in their annual and interim reports, using the taxonomy elements us-gaap: EarningsPerShareBasic and us-gaap: EarningsPerShareDiluted. If both EPS values are identical and shown only once, the amount should be tagged with both elements.

Staff in the Commission’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis has observed the following incorrect tagging practices by filers in certain Forms 10-Q or 10-K submitted during 2024:

• Creating custom tags such as BasicAndDilutedEarningsPerShare to tag this amount;
• Tagging this amount only once using one of the two standard tags and
• Tagging this amount using a standard tag that was deprecated in 2022.

Incorrect tagging for EPS would negatively impact the data's usability (for example, tagging the amount only once will lose either basic or diluted EPS information). Filers are encouraged to review their tagging on EPS data and make necessary corrections.

Access the announcement on the SEC’s website.

In her speech at the AI for Good Global Summit, Gita balanced AI's benefits, such as potential boosts to productivity, with its significant risks. She suggested several preventive policy actions, including reconsidering tax systems that favour automation, enhancing investments in education and training to protect workers, and adopting measures to lower financial and supply-chain risks related to AI. She called for a shift in the international focus towards AI-proofing the economy, urging policymakers to closely monitor AI's development and prepare for its potential economic impact. Despite outlining these risks, Gopinath emphasized that they are not predictions and stressed the importance of proactive measures to harness AI's potential for good.

Access the speech on the IMF’s website.

The podcast highlights some of the projects that were discussed during the meeting, including:

• Feedback related to exposure draft for financial instruments with characteristics of equity.
• Developments in the post-implementation review of IFRS 9 impairment project

The podcast can be accessed here on the IFRS Foundation website

Below is an analysis of all changes made to the work plan since our last analysis on April 29, 2024

Standard-setting projects

• Business Combinations — Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment — Exposure draft feedback is now expected in Q4 2024 (previously H2 2024). 
• Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures— This project has been removed from the work plan since the IASB issued IFRS 19 on 9 May 2024. 
• Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity — The next step in this project is now a decision on the project direction (expected in July 2024).

Maintenance projects

• Amendments to the Classification and Measurement of Financial Instruments—IASB issued amendments on May 30, 2024. 
• Climate-related and Other Uncertainties in the Financial Statements— An exposure draft expected to be published in July 2024 (previously Q3 2024). 
• Power purchase agreements — An exposure draft of proposed amendments was published on May 8, 2024. The project is now in the feedback stage which is expected to start in Q3 2024. 
• Updating the Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures Standard — An exposure draft is now expected in July 2024 (previously Q3 2024). 
• Use of a Hyperinflationary Presentation Currency by a Non-hyperinflationary Entity (IAS 21)— An exposure draft is now expected in July 2024 (previously Q3 2024)

Research projects

• Intangible Assets— Review of research is now expected in Q4 2024 (previously H2 2024).
• Post-implementation Review of IFRS 9 — Impairment— A feedback statement is now expected in July 2024 (previously Q3 2024)

Research projects

• IFRS Accounting Taxonomy Update — Primary Financial Statements— A proposed taxonomy update was published on May 23, 2024. The project is now in the feedback stage which is expected to start in the H2 2024.

The above is a faithful comparison of the IASB and ISSB work plan on April 29, 2024, and May 28, 2024, respectively.

For access to the current work plans at any time, please click here.