Conceptual framework — Elements of financial statements

Date recorded:

The Staff summarised the changes to the previous draft:

  • 'control' was moved back in the asset’s definition;
  • 'past events' were moved back in the liability’s definition; and
  • a new conclusion was included in the discussion about the existence uncertainty.

There was a brief discussion about moving the ‘past events’ back into the liability’s definition, i.e. whether it was necessary. The Staff explained that yes, perhaps it was redundant but it was helpful for the process of thinking things through.

The new conclusion in the discussion about the existence uncertainty (which is mainly relevant in the context of IAS 37 mainly) has reflected the recommendation from ASAF: when there is uncertainty, the entity should decide what is relevant (versus assessing the probability threshold).

The Staff summarised that the existence uncertainty was reflected in recognition of an item and the probability uncertainty was reflected in measurement of the item.

One of the Board members questioned why 'profit or loss' was not defined. The response was that nobody could come up with a good definition so far.

There were other wording suggestions from various Board members.

The Staff will revise the paper based on the feedback from the discussion.

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