Section 3051 - Investments

Effective date:

January 1, 2011 except for subsequent amendments

Published by the AcSB:

December 2009

 

Overview

This Section establishes standards for:

  1. investments subject to significant influence; and

  2. measuring and disclosing certain other non-financial instrument investments (such as works of art and other tangible assets held for investment purposes).

Under ASPE, an investor with an investment in a subsidiary, interest in a joint venture or investment subject to significant influence has the ability to elect as its accounting policy to account for such investments using the cost or equity method. This Section sets out how the cost and equity method are applied.

History of Section 3051

Date

Development

Comments

December 2009

Part II of the CPA Canada Handbook issued

Effective for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2011.

April 2010

Minor amendments to address certain drafting issues.

Paragraph .16, has been added to provide guidance concerning recognition of an equity accounted investee's losses in excess of the enterprise's investment.

October 2012

Annual improvements

Paragraph .25A, has been added to provide guidance on the accounting for dilution gains and losses.

September 2014

Clarification and new guidance

This Section has been amended to:

  • clarify that the scope includes investments subject to significant influence and certain other non-financial instrument investments (such as works of art and other tangible assets held for investment purposes), but does not include other investments (such as subsidiaries and interests in joint arrangements); and
  • add guidance on contributions and other transactions between an investor and an equity-accounted investee that is consistent with the guidance in Section 3056 Interests in joint arrangements. The amendments are effective for annual financial statements relating to fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2016. Earlier application is permitted. If the amendments are applied before January 1, 2016, Section 3056 must be applied at the same time.

October 2015

Annual improvements

 

Paragraph 3051.38, has been amended to require the disclosure of the amount of any impairment loss or reversal of a previously recognized impairment loss. Effective for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2016. Earlier application is permitted.

December - 2016

Accounting for Subsidiaries under the Cost Method and the Equity Method (Amendments to Sections 1591 and 3051).

Ef­fec­tive for fis­cal years be­gin­ning on or af­ter Jan­u­ary 1, 2018. Ear­lier ap­pli­ca­tion is per­mit­ted.

June 2019

Amendment to Section 3051 to clarify that paragraph 3051.07A also applies to investments in jointly controlled enterprises accounted for using the cost method.

Ef­fec­tive for fis­cal years be­gin­ning on or af­ter Jan­u­ary 1, 2020 with ear­lier ap­pli­ca­tion per­mit­ted.

April 2020

Amend­ment to Sec­tion 3051 to clar­ify that para­graph 3051.07A also ap­plies to in­vest­ments in jointly con­trolled en­ter­prises ac­counted for us­ing the cost method.

At its meeting on April 15, 2020, as a result of the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, the AcSB decided to defer the effective date of these amendments to Section 3051 by one year to fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2021. Earlier application continues to be permitted. These changes to Section 3051 were issued to the CPA Canada Handbook – Accounting Part II on August 1, 2020.

Note: The above summary does not include details of consequential amendments made as the result of other projects.

Amendments under consideration

  • None

Private Enterprise Advisory Committee Meeting Notes

  • November 7, 2017 - Items to Consider as Part of the 2019 Annual Improvements: Application of the Cost Method to Interest in Jointly Controlled Enterprises
  • April 14, 2016 - Responses received on the AcSB’s Exposure Draft, “Subsidiaries and Investments”
  • June 11, 2015 - 2015 Annual Improvements: Proposed amendments to Section 1582, 3051 and 3462, be approved as exposed
  • April 1, 2015 - Accounting for a subsidiary and an investment using the cost method
  • December 17, 2014 - Subsidiaries
  • September 16, 2014 - Accounting for a subsidiary when the cost or equity method is used

Correction list for hyphenation

These words serve as exceptions. Once entered, they are only hyphenated at the specified hyphenation points. Each word should be on a separate line.