• a new "G3 Checklist" designed to help reporting organisations further implement the guidelines in their sustainability reporting
• a draft Construction and Real Estate Sector Supplement, sector-specific sustainability reporting guidance for organisations in these fields
• Arabic and Bulgarian translations of the Level C Reporting template, which can be used to prepare a basic sustainability report (other translations are also available).

The GRI website can be accessed at www.globalreporting.org.

Wednesday, 2 February 2011

• Revenue Recognition (IASB/FASB)
• Accounting for costs of obtaining a contract
• Insurance Contracts (IASB/FASB)
• Acquisition costs

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial Notes Taken by Deloitte Observers for the entire meeting.

Click for EFRAG press release (link to EFRAG website)

Wednesday, 2 February 2011

• Post-employment Benefits (IASB)
• Distinction between defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans
• Accounting for risk sharing features in a defined benefit plan

We will post notes from the joint IASB-FASB session (where revenue recognition and insurance contracts were discussed) soon.

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial Notes Taken by Deloitte Observers for the entire meeting.

The Accountancy Education Forum will feature speakers and participants from North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. The agenda includes panel discussions and interactive sessions that aim to share best practices, provide support tools, and answer questions, with a focus on the implementation of the International Education Standards set by the IAESB, and the UNCTAD-ISAR Accounting Model Curriculum.

Click for IFAC press release (link to IFAC website).

• The directors' report does not clearly identify which risks and uncertainties the directors believe to be the principal ones facing the business.
• A long list of principal risks and uncertainties is given and the list raises a question as to whether all the risks and uncertainties on the list are actually principal ones.
• The description given of a risk or uncertainty is in generic terms and it is not clear how that risk or uncertainty applies to the company's circumstances.
• The disclosure is of a risk framework rather than of the risks or uncertainties themselves.
• The principal risks and uncertainties disclosed are not consistent with other information given in the report and accounts.
• The directors' report does not state how the company manages its principal risks and uncertainties.

The FRRP urges the companies not to hide behind boilerplate disclosures since "Boards who retreat behind boilerplate give the impression that they have not themselves understood the risks they face".

The requirements of the UK Companies Act are also reflected in IFRSs. The Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting states: "Financial information is useful when it is relevant and represents faithfully what it purports to represent." [F:QC4]. IAS 1.25 says that the uncertainties must be disclosed if management has significant concerns about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern; IAS 1.122 & 125 require disclosure of judgements, assumptions and sources of estimation uncertainty in preparing financial statements; and in December 2010 the IASB published an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) Practice Statement Management Commentary, a broad, non-binding framework for the presentation of narrative reporting to accompany financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRSs, which also contains recommended risk disclosures (paragraphs 31 and 32).

Click for FRC press release (link to FRC website).

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

• Post-implementation reviews (IASB)
• Revenue Recognition (IASB/FASB)
• Considering whether an entity should allocate revenue to all product warranties and, if not, to which warranties an entity should allocate revenue

• Leases (IASB/FASB)
• How to distinguish between a lease contract and a service contract

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial Notes Taken by Deloitte Observers for the entire meeting.