The broker-dealer working draft addresses underwriting revenues, while the telecommunications working draft covers the determination of transaction prices.

Below is an analysis of all changes made to the work plan since our last analysis on September 22, 2017.

Main­te­nance projects

• Accounting policy changes (changes in accounting policies that result from agenda decisions published by the IFRS Interpretations Committee) — exposure draft is now expected in first quarter of 2018.
• Classification of Liabilities — final amendments are now expected in the second half of 2018.
• Long-term interests in associates and joint ventures — the work plan reflects that the final amendments have been published.
• Improvements to IFRS 8 — Feedback statement on exposure draft is now expected in November 2017.
• Plan amendment, curtailment or settlement — final amendments are now expected in January 2018.
• Prepayment features with negative compensation — the work plan reflects that the final amendments have been published.

Research projects

• Financial in­stru­ments with char­ac­ter­is­tics of equity — a dis­cus­sion paper is now expected in the first half of 2018.
• Principles of disclosure — feedback statement on the discussion paper is now expected in the first quarter of 2018.

Other projects

• IFRS Taxonomy update for prepayment features with negative compensation — New entry added to work plan. Feedback statement on the proposed update is expected in the first quarter of 2018.

The revised IASB work plan is available on the IASB's website.

About two months remain until the beginning of 2018 when all public companies reporting on a US GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) basis adopt the revised revenue recognition requirements. The paper examines reporting patterns that have begun to crystallise in the transition to full adoption although it notes:

Notably, many companies seem to be crawling to the starting line. Very few companies have been early adopters. At the same time, insightful numerical information on anticipated impacts from those that are yet to adopt is limited.

The paper also reviews selected critical judgments that could affect reported revenue.

Review the full paper on the CFA Institute's website.

The AcSB would like input from Canadian respondents on the following additional question regarding the proposed amendments:

The IASB has developed the proposed amendments in accordance with its due process for application around the world. Assuming the Exposure Draft proposals are finalized and approved by the IASB in accordance with its due process, do you think that the proposals are appropriate for application in Canada? If not, please specify which aspects of the proposals, and what circumstances, make the accounting requirements proposed in the Exposure Draft inappropriate.

Review the Exposure Draft on the AcSB's website.

Some standard-setters are strictly against including any non-IFRS information in financial statements. Canada's AcSB argues that non-IFRS information "could undermine other information in the financial statements that conforms with IFRS Standards" and could "further reduce the relevance of financial statements". Mexico's CINIF ("we do not believe there are situations where 'non-IFRS information' is warranted").

Some standard-setters argue in favour of allowing information that is not IFRS information in financial statements. The UK FRC notes that it "does not support a principle which prohibits information".

Many standard-setters draw a line between non-IFRS information and information that is not consistent with IFRSs (with some of them again pointing out that it would be difficult to distinguish between the two types of information).

Other standard-setters again simply acknowledge that prohibiting non-IFRS information is impractical.

The middle ground is held by standard-setters who see pros and cons and weigh them carefully but who also stress two points: (i) in some jurisdictions there are legal requirements to include certain non-IFRS information in financial statements and (ii) IAS 1 already requires "to provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in IFRSs is insufficient to enable users to understand the impact of particular transactions, other events and conditions on the entity’s financial position and financial performance".

All comment letters cited or referred to are available on the IASB's website. The questions regarding non-IFRS information and information that is inconsistent with or contradicts IFRS information are questions 6 and 7.

Review the full article on our Global IAS Plus website.

Several concerns were raised, including how the resulting profit margin may not be a meaningful measure for users to predict future profitability and cash flows. The AcSB strongly encourages the IASB to consider further developing this proposal in order to provide relevant information to users.

Review the AcSB letter posted by the IASB.

The AcSB is supportive of the IASB’s Principles of Disclosure project, however they disagree with the IASB’s preliminary view that a general disclosure standard should allow an entity to include information in its financial statements that it has identified as non-IFRS information. In particular, they think the IASB should develop strict boundaries that prohibit the use of non-IFRS information that is inconsistent with or contradicts IFRS information.

Non-IFRS information should not be included in the financial statements, as it could undermine other information in the financial statements that conforms with IFRS Standards. The AcSB thinks that allowing non-IFRS information to be included in the financial statements could further reduce the relevance of financial statements, and would contradict the IASB’s objective, in the Disclosure Initiative project, of better communication.

Review the press release and letter on the AcSB's website.

The agenda paper:

• compares the Board’s tentative decisions with the FASB Amendments;
  Agenda ref 13A;
• explains the main differences;
• reports feedback from Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF) members on the Board’s tentative decisions: and
• recommends clarifying that the cash acquired should be excluded from the gross assets acquired considered in the screening test.

Appendix A of this paper includes a table that shows a summary of all the Board’s tentative decisions against the FASB decisions.

Review the agenda paper on the IASB's website.

It is often argued that the problem with economics is that it is neither an art nor a science. And when it comes to some areas of accounting and financial reporting the same dilemma becomes apparent. Quite what is the difference between judgement in determining what accounting policy applies to a transaction (and how to apply it) and what has been estimated in applying that policy?

Information about the key judgements and estimates provides very useful insights. It helps investors understand the choices and judgements management has had to make in preparing the financial statements.

It also allows investors to better assess the quality of the accounting policy decisions management makes and to identify those areas that rely on greater estimation. It enables people to think about what might happen and what may affect the outcomes being estimated. It throws light into a thought process that the blunt disclosure of a bald fact does not.

Review the entire column on our Global IAS Plus website.

The feedback received indicated that the Framework stands up well to the challenges of implementation. However, several opportunities to provide guidance and examples and take other actions to help report preparers and other stakeholders, who continue to tackle challenges, were also identified. In fact, the report identifies 48 actions the IIRC currently proposes taking, based on the preliminary analysis of the feedback. Some of these actions would also include updates to the framework itself. However, the report also acknowledges the need for a stable platform:

There is clearly a choice to be made between giving sufficient time for companies to implement the Framework without changes being made, and updating the Framework in the light of experience and external developments. We have carefully considered the small number of suggestions made in this exercise for Framework revisions, and concluded that none are of immediate concern to justify making those changes now.

Review the report from the IIRC's website.