Within its goodwill and impairment project, the Board is investigating how companies can provide users of financial statements with better information about mergers and acquisitions (business combinations) at a reasonable cost. This investigation includes the challenging question of how companies should account for goodwill after the business combination.

The six-page article discusses the Board's preliminary views that:

• "we should enhance disclosure objectives and requirements to improve the information provided to users about an acquired business and its subsequent performance, even if that information must be on a combined basis where the acquired business has been integrated into an existing business;
• it is not feasible to make the impairment test significantly more effective at recognizing impairment losses of goodwill;
• reintroducing amortization of goodwill would not provide significantly better information to users;
• we should reduce the cost and complexity of the impairment test by providing relief from the mandatory annual quantitative impairment test for goodwill;
• we should also reduce the cost and complexity of the impairment test by simplifying some of the requirements for estimating value in use;
• we should not allow more intangible assets to be included in goodwill; and
• we should enhance transparency by requiring companies to present total equity before goodwill in their balance sheets."

The article notes that the Board plans to issue a discussion paper on these issues at the end of 2019.

Review the press release and article on the Board's website.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) have jointly released the TCFD Good Practice Handbook, a complement to the TCFD Implementation Guide, released in May 2019. The handbook provides real-world examples of TCFD reporting to help companies better understand how they can more effectively communicate with investors about the financially material climate-related risks and opportunities they face.

The CDSB has also launched a climate-related financial disclosure e-learning platform designed to help organizations fill the knowledge gap and enhance their disclosures of climate-related information. Hosted on the TCFD Knowledge Hub, the e-learning courses will be CPD accredited and suitable for companies, investors and finance professionals.

Below is an analysis of all changes that were made to the work plan since our last analysis on July 29, 2019.

Standard-setting projects

• No changes

Maintenance projects

• Amendments to IFRS 17 — Discussions on feedback received on the exposure draft is expected to occur in November 2019 (previously fourth quarter of 2019)
• Disclosure initiative — Accounting policies — An exposure draft was published on 1 August 2019, discussions on the feedback received on the exposure draft are expected begin in November 2019
• IBOR reform and its effects on financial reporting (Phase 1) — discussions on the feedback received on the exposure draft were concluded in August 2019, the staff will prepare the final amendments for publication (no date given)
• IBOR reform and its effects on financial reporting (Phase 2) — newly added to the work plan, no date given for the planned exposure draft

Research projects

• SME Implementation Group draft Q&A — newly added o the work plan, discussion of the feedback on the draft Q&A is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019

Other projects

• Updated IFRS Foundation Due Process Handbook — Discussions on feedback received on the exposure draft is expected to occur in October 2019 (previously fourth quarter of 2019)

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