The Proposed IFRS Taxonomy Update proposes a number of improvements to the IFRS Taxonomy 2017, including:

• enhancements to the data model to support consistent tagging of reporting related to continuing and discontinued operations;
• changes to better reflect the disaggregation of disclosures in IAS 19 Employee Benefits; and
• changes to better reflect disclosures in IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures relating to the initial application of IFRS 9 Financial Instruments.

Review the press release and proposed update on the IASB's website.

In the article, they discuss how one of the issues involves having to identify revenue when it includes “variable considerations.” Such as refunds, performance bonuses, discounts, and rebates. Corporate accountants will now have to figure out how to report variable considerations as they exist from day one of a contract. Variable consideration is something companies didn’t have to deal with previously” except under a small number of very specific circumstances.

Another challenge for preparers is that they now have to judge whether to recognize “a significant financing component” in their sales contracts and, if so, how much to recognize.  In such cases, the customer pays a considerable sum before the provider fulfills the contract.

Review the full article on CFO.com's website.

The new revenue standard is effective for all public entities for annual periods beginning January 1, 2018 for calendar year-end public entities. The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance selectively reviewed filings to monitor and enhance compliance with applicable disclosure and accounting requirements of the new standard. FEI reviewed revenue-related comment letter correspondence between the SEC and filers, and found the following trends:

• Early adopters have been asked to clarify considerations made for operationalizing different aspects of the standard
• The SEC began requesting more robust SAB 74 disclosures for periods ending December 31, 2016
• Several companies have disclosed incorrect effective dates for ASC 606 in their SAB 74 disclosures

Review the press release and the update on FEI's website.

The discussion on the reputation survey was held in private session. On the other two significant topics, the report — prepared by the Chair of the IFRS Advisory Council, Joanna Perry — notes the following discussions:

• The effect of technology on the future of accounting and corporate reporting — Members of the Council were convinced that massive changes in relation to technology will have an impact upon accounting, corporate reporting and the IFRS Foundation. However, they also thought that there was a clear future role for some form of financial reporting and for some form of principle-based accounting standards and, therefore, for the IFRS Foundation. They noted that stakeholders will need to deal with unstructured data and with judgements being made in a real-time environment in the future and that the IFRS Foundation needs to consider early how to respond to the changes. Members considered that it would be useful to include further sessions on technology on the Council’s future agenda .
• Better communication — Members commended the Board on the publication of the report Better Communication in Financial Reporting and provided various suggestions for both how the Board could promote the document and how Council members (and therefore others) could use the document.

Members also received updates from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, from the IASB Chairman, and on the Trustees’ activities.

Review the full report on the IASB's website.

The 2018 SEC Reporting Taxonomy (SRT) moves a range of elements from the GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy into a new taxonomy that can be used for companies reporting under both IFRS and US GAAP. 

The broad categories addressed in the SRT include:

• The oil and gas industry
• Financial schedules
• Condensed consolidating financial information for guarantors
• Country code elements
• Common axis/domain used while reporting financials in US-GAAP.

The introduction of the SRT taxonomy eliminates the need for foreign private issuers (FPIs) using the IFRS taxonomy to import the US-GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy. This simplifies what would otherwise be a complex process.

Review the announcement on the SEC's website and the taxonomy on the FASB's website.

The topics discussed at the meeting included:

• IASB Update. Members discussed goodwill and impairment, transition resource groups in general, and investor feedback on the post-implementation review of IFRS 13. The IASB staff also provided an update on how GPF members’ feedback on educational materials during the November 2016 meeting was addressed.
• Proposed amendments to IAS 16 on property, plant and equipment. GPF members expressed mixed views on the proposed amendments, with some supporting them and some disagreeing with them. It was questioned whether the benefits from the change would outweigh the costs and it was noted that dealing with such changes would be unwelcome when entities are implementing several new IFRSs.
• Reputation survey. The staff sought feedback from the GPF members on how the IFRS Foundation can improve its engagement with its stakeholders, how the members think the GPF could be better utilised as ambassadors for the Foundation, and how they think the Foundation can improve timeliness without adversely affecting the quality of IFRSs.
• Proposed amendments to IAS 1 and IAS 8 regarding materiality. The GPF members generally agreed with the Board’s intention to align and refine the definition of material in IFRSs and the Conceptual Framework, although some GPF members expressed concerns about the practical implications of some proposed changes to the definition.
• Proposed amendments to IAS 8 on accounting policies and accounting estimates. Overall, GPF members tentatively supported the proposals in the exposure draft and said that it would provide clarity on the distinction between accounting policies and accounting estimates. However, some detailed points were raised.

Review the press release and meeting summary on the IASB's website.

The topics covered during the meeting included:

• Primary financial state­ments 
• Rate-regulated activities
• Definition of a business
• Goodwill and impairment
• Project updates and agenda planning

Review the press release and the summary of the meeting on the IASB's website.

Review the article on Accounting Today's website.

Below is an analysis of all changes made to the work plan since our last analysis on October 27, 2017.

Major projects

• A new project Management commentary (Wider corporate reporting) has been added to the IASB's agenda. The aim of the project is to review and update the Management Commentary Practice Statement issued in 2010 to help address the lack of alignment and integration between wider corporate reporting and financial reporting. The next project step will be an exposure draft, however, the Board is still considering the timetable for the publication of the ED.
• Definition of material - feedback on the ED is now expected in February 2018.

Main­te­nance projects

• Improvements arising from the post-implementation review of IFRS 8 — The feedback received on the ED revealed that respondents had mixed views on the proposals, and Board member views were also mixed. It was suggested during the Board's discussions at the November meeting that if the proposals ended up creating more problems, then the Board should consider not finalizing them. If it was decided to reject only some of the proposals, the staff should then assess the costs and benefits of proceeding with finalizing the remaining proposals. A decision on the project direction is expected in January 2018.

Other projects

• IFRS Taxonomy update for the annual improvements 2017 — new entry added to work plan. A proposed update is expected in November 2017.

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