This Taxonomy update includes elements to reflect the new presentation and disclosure requirements introduced by the recently-issued standard IFRS 17, Insurance Contracts.

Review the press release and Taxonomy update on the IASB’s website.

The AcSB suggests broadening the definition of accounting estimates, and defining that term independently from accounting policies to reduce unintended circularity. To improve application in practice, the AcSB strongly encourages the IASB to develop illustrative examples that cover a spectrum of complex situations.

Read the AcSB letter posted by the IASB.

The working draft addresses selling and distribution fee revenue. Comments on the working draft are due by March 1, 2018.

For more information, see the revenue recognition resource page on the AICPA’s Web site.

The IPSASB also notes that the deadline for comments on the consultation paper is January 15, 2018.

View the video (approx. 30 minutes) on the IPSASB'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 first day saw the presentation of five academic papers, followed by a response of an academic and an IASB representative, again followed by a discussion with the audience. The papers included:

• The impact of accounting standards on pension investment decisions
• Gaps in the IFRS Conceptual Framework
• Articulation, profit or loss and OCI in the IASB Conceptual Framework: different shades of clean (or dirty) surplus
• Making Deferred Taxes Relevant
• Introducing More IFRS Principles of Disclosures – Will the Poor Disclosers Improve?

On the second day, IASB staff presented case studies for discussion by the audience. The case studies included:

• Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity Part A - Overview
• Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity Part B - Examples
• What is 'interest' in EBIT?

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 paper states that whilst it is widely acknowledged that transactions with and between members of the same group should not influence the outside appearance of that group and therefore be eliminated, such eliminations do result in a loss of information which is definitely and finally lost for outside users of financial statements. It goes on to note that, furthermore, much of today’s complexity in the environment is not captured in the group’s financial statements although it could highly influence the position, performance and cash flows of the group.

Review the paper on the IASB's website.

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.

The three exposure drafts are:

• Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards, Omnibus Statement on Auditing Standards—2018
• Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards, The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Other Information Included in Annual Reports
• Proposed Statements on Auditing Standards, Auditor Reporting and Proposed Amendments―Addressing Disclosures in the Audit of Financial Statements

Review the Exposure Drafts on the AICPA's website.