International Accounting Standards Board reveals its ‘to-do list’ for the next five years
Nov 02, 2016
On November 2, 2016, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published the conclusions from its recent Agenda Consultation and its five-year work plan. Listening to feedback from stakeholders, the IASB confirmed that a central theme for its activities until 2021 will be Better Communication in financial statements.
In the Request for Views pubished in August 2015 the Board asked broad questions on the balance of its activities, its research programme, its standard-setting projects, its maintenance activities and implementation support, the level and pace of change, and the frequency of its agenda consultations. The Board received 119 comment letters. Main respondent groups were preparers and industry organizations (31%), standard-setters (23%), and auditors and accounting bodies (22%). 49% of responses were from Europe and and 23% from Asia and Oceania.
Given the responses on the research programme - that research itself was supported but the structure and processes were unclear and that there were too many research projects on the agenda - the Board decided to refocus it research programme. It has abandoned the former categories of long-term and short-term research projects and it does no longer distinguish between the assessment phase of a project and the development phase.
In April and May 2016, the IASB discussed all research projects on the agenda and assessed each of it against the feedback received in the agenda consultation. As a result, the Board decided to:
- retain eight projects on the research programme, including two that were nearing completion, and develop them actively as a priority;
- transfer the remaining four projects to a newly created research pipeline; and
- do no further work on four topics.
The Board also added to its research pipeline a further four topics, newly identified in the 2015 consultation. Projects in the pipeline will not become active immediately, however, when sufficient capacity becomes available, these projects will be taken up. It is expected that work on these projects can be started before the next agenda consultation.
The current situation is:
| Active research projects | Research pipeline | Projects for which no further work is planned |
|---|---|---|
|
Disclosure initiative — Principles of disclosure Primary financial statements Business combinations under common control Dynamic risk management Financial instruments with characteristics of equity Goodwill and impairment Discount rates Share-based payment |
Equity method Extractive activities Pollutant pricing mechanisms Provisions Variable and contingent consideration High Inflation: Scope of IAS 29 Pension benefits that depend on asset returns SMEs that are subsidiaries |
Foreign currency translation High inflation Income taxes Post-employment benefits (including pensions) |
Please click for the following documents on the IASB's Web site:
