News

FRC Image

FRC to host webinar to discuss key findings of recent corporate reporting reviews

11 Oct, 2021

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is hosting a webinar to discuss the findings of its most recent corporate reporting reviews.

The webinar will cover the reviews of:

A range of FRC experts will discuss the key findings of the reviews, what good reporting looks like and areas where the FRC expects companies to improve their reporting. The presentations by FRC staff will be followed by a short Q&A session.

The webinar will be of particular interest to:

  • Preparers of corporate reports
  • Investors and users of accounts
  • Auditors  

A press release including details of how to register for the webinar is available on the FRC website.

EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) (dk green) Image

EFRAG publishes a feedback statement on the IASB's proposed new standard on rate-regulated activities

11 Oct, 2021

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published its feedback statement on the International Accounting Standard Board’s (IASB's) Exposure Draft 'ED/2021/1 Regulatory Assets and Regulatory Liabilities' ("the ED").

EFRAG published its final comment letter on 10 September 2021.

The Feedback Statement summarises the main comments received by EFRAG on its draft comment letter and effects analysis outreach on the proposals in the ED and explains how EFRAG considered the comments during its technical discussions in reaching a final position on the proposals.

A press release and the feedback statement are available on the EFRAG website.

Calendar Image

New and revised pronouncements as at 30 September 2021

11 Oct, 2021

Our popular summary of new and revised financial reporting requirements, updated for financial reporting periods ending on 30 September 2021. This listing can be used to perform a quick check that new financial reporting requirements such as new and revised accounting standards and interpretations, and amendments to standards and interpretations, have been fully considered in the reporting close process.

The information below reflects developments to 12 December 2021 and will be updated through to 31 December 2021 to reflect new and revised financial reporting requirements that need to be considered for financial reporting periods ending on 30 September 2021. For accounts approved after December 2021, please also refer to subsequent versions of this document for any new and revised IFRS Standards that have additionally been issued that might require disclosure in the accounts under IAS 8:30.

The information below is organised as follows:

Summary

COVID-19 accounting considerations
Below is our usual analysis of new and amended standards, however, we are also aware that most, if not all, entities will have been impacted by the COVID-19 events. Please see our Need to know — Accounting considerations related to the Coronavirus 2019 Disease highlighting some of the key issues to be considered by the entities in preparing their financial statements and our UK Accounting Plus resource page on accounting considerations related to COVID-19. We additionally have a UK Accounting Plus collections page which includes all of our news and publications related to COVID-19.

The table below provides a summary of the pronouncements which will be mandatorily applied by UK entities for the first time at 30 September 2021, for various quarterly reporting periods. Where a UK entity chooses to prepare financial statements in accordance with IFRS Standards as issued by the IASB, as well as in compliance with IFRS Standards as adopted in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, that entity should comply with the earlier IASB effective date for those items.

  • For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2021, UK companies required or choosing to apply IFRS Standards will need to comply with UK-adopted IFRS Standards rather than EU-adopted IFRS Standards.
  • For accounting periods beginning prior to 1 January 2021, UK companies required or choosing to apply IFRS Standards must still prepare their financial statements in accordance with EU-adopted IFRS Standards. However, companies whose financial year spans 31 December 2020, and those whose filing deadline falls after 31 December 2020 but whose accounts have not been filed before 31 December 2020, may opt to apply any new IFRS Standards adopted by the UK in addition to EU-adopted IFRS Standards as at 31 December 2020.
  • For accounting periods beginning prior to 1 January 2021, if the entity has transferable securities admitted to trading on a UK regulated market, is required to produce consolidated accounts and is preparing accounts to satisfy DTR requirements, those accounts must additionally be prepared in accordance with IFRS Standards adopted pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 as it applies in the European Union. This means that EU adoption of IFRS Standards subsequent to 31 December 2020 remains relevant for such entities.

Further information on IFRS Standards in the UK is available here.

The table below provides a summary of these pronouncements, and which reporting periods they apply to:

Pronouncement IASB Effective date* EU/UK effective date* UK Mandatory at 30 September 2021?
1st qtrs.** 2nd qtrs.*** 3rd qtrs.**** Full yrs*****
Applying IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments' with IFRS 4 'Insurance Contracts' (Amendments to IFRS 4)
1 January 2018 1 January 2018 Optional ~ Optional ~ Optional ~ Optional ~
Amendments to References to the Conceptual Framework in IFRS Standards 1 January 2020 1 January 2020 Already applied in prior year (July 2020) Already applied in prior year (April 2020 Already applied in prior year (Jan 2020) Yes
Definition of Material (Amendments to IAS 1 and IAS 8) 1 January 2020 1 January 2020 Already applied in prior year (July 2020) Already applied in prior year (April 2020 Already applied in prior year (Jan 2020) Yes
Interest Rate Benchmark Reform (Amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39 and IFRS 7) 1 January 2020 1 January 2020 Already applied in prior year (July 2020) Already applied in prior year (April 2020 Already applied in prior year (Jan 2020) Yes
Definition of a Business (Amendments to IFRS 3) 1 January 2020 1 January 2020 Already applied in prior year (July 2020) Already applied in prior year (April 2020 Already applied in prior year (Jan 2020) Yes
Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions (Amendment to IFRS 16) 1 June 2020 1 June 2020 Already applied in prior year (July 2020) Yes Yes Yes
Interest Rate Benchmark Reform — Phase 2 (Amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39, IFRS 7, IFRS 4 and IFRS 16) 1 January 2021 1 January 2021 Yes Yes Yes No
Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions beyond 30 June 2021 (Amendment to IFRS 16) 1 April 2021 1 April 2021 Yes Yes No No

* Generally annual reporting periods beginning on or after the date indicated, may only apply to first-time adopters in some limited cases (see below for full details).

** 1st quarter ending on 30 September 2021 (accounting period began on 1 July 2021).

*** 2nd quarter ending 30 September 2021 (accounting period began 1 April 2021).

**** 3rd quarter ending 30 September 2021 (accounting period began 1 January 2021).

***** 4th quarter ending 30 September 2021 (accounting period began 1 October 2020).

~ The application of both approaches (overlay approach/ deferral approach) is optional and an entity is permitted to stop applying them before the new insurance contracts standard is applied.

More information about these pronouncements, and all new and revised pronouncements, is set out below.

Financial statement considerations in adopting new and revised pronouncements

Where new and revised pronouncements are applied for the first time, there can be consequential impacts on annual financial statements, including:

  • Updates to accounting policies. The terminology and substance of disclosed accounting policies may need to be updated to reflect new recognition, measurement and other requirements, e.g IAS 19 Employee Benefits may impact the measurement of certain employee benefits.
  • Impact of transitional provisions. IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Estimates and Errors contains a general requirement that changes in accounting policies are retrospectively applied, but this does not apply to the extent an individual pronouncement has specific transitional provisions.
  • Disclosures about changes in accounting policies. Where an entity changes its accounting policy as a result of the initial application of an IFRS and it has an effect on the current period or any prior period, IAS 8 requires the disclosure of a number of matters, e.g. the title of the IFRS, the nature of the change in accounting policy, a description of the transitional provisions, and the amount of the adjustment for each financial statement line item affected
  • Third statement of financial position. IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements requires the presentation of a third statement of financial position as at the beginning of the preceding period in addition to the minimum comparative financial statements in a number of situations, including if an entity applies an accounting policy retrospectively and the retrospective application has a material effect on the information in the statement of financial position at the beginning of the preceding period
  • Earnings per share (EPS). Where applicable to the entity, IAS 33 Earnings Per Share requires basic and diluted EPS to be adjusted for the impacts of adjustments result from changes in accounting policies accounted for retrospectively and IAS 8 requires the disclosure of the amount of any such adjustments.

Whilst disclosures associated with changes in accounting policies resulting from the initial application of new and revised pronouncements are less in interim financial reports under IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting, some disclosures are required, e.g. description of the nature and effect of any change in accounting policies and methods of computation.

 

New or revised standards

The information below can be used to assist with the disclosure requirements under paragraph 30 of IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors, which requires entities to disclose any new IFRS Standards that are in issue but not yet effective and which are likely to impact the entity

New or revised pronouncement Effective date

UK Application at 30 September 2021 to:

1st qtrs 2nd qtrs 3rd qtrs Full yrs

IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts

IFRS 17 requires insurance liabilities to be measured at a current fulfillment value and provides a more uniform measurement and presentation approach for all insurance contracts. These requirements are designed to achieve the goal of a consistent, principle-based accounting for insurance contracts. IFRS 17 supersedes IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts as of 1 January 2021.

Issued: 18 May 2017 (Summary of IFRS 17, Article, Newsletter).

Applicable to annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. The original effective date of IFRS 17 of 1 January 2021 was amended by Amendments to IFRS 17 issued by the IASB in June 2020.

Endorsed for use in the EU, albeit with an optional exemption from applying the annual cohort requirement.  Not yet endorsed for use in the UK.

Amendments

New or revised pronouncement When effective UK Application at 30 June 2021 to:
1st qtrs 2nd qtrs 3rd qtrs Full yrs

Editorial Corrections (various)

The IASB periodically issues Editorial Corrections and changes to IFRSs and other pronouncements. Since the beginning of calendar 2012, such corrections have been made in February 2012, July 2012, March 2013, September 2013, November 2013 and March 2014, September 2014, December 2014, March 2015, April 2015, September 2015, December 2015, March 2016, May 2016, September 2016, December 2016, September 2017, November 2017, December 2018, March 2019, May 2019, December 2019, July 2020, September 2020, October 2020, November 2020, June 2021, October 2021 and December 2021.

Note: For details of these editorial corrections, see our IASB editorial corrections page.

As minor editorial corrections, these changes are effectively immediately applicable under IFRS See comment in previous column
Applying IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments' with IFRS 4 'Insurance Contracts' (Amendments to IFRS 4)
Amends IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts provide two options for entities that issue insurance contracts within the scope of IFRS 4:
  • an option that permits entities to reclassify, from profit or loss to other comprehensive income, some of the income or expenses arising from designated financial assets; this is the so-called overlay approach;
  • an optional temporary exemption from applying IFRS 9 for entities whose predominant activity is issuing contracts within the scope of IFRS 4; this is the so-called deferral approach.
The application of both approaches is optional and an entity is permitted to stop applying them before the new insurance contracts standard is applied.
Issued: 12 September 2016 (article, newsletter)

Overlay approach to be applied when IFRS 9 is first applied. Deferral approach effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018 and only available for five years after that.

In June 2020 the IASB issued Extension of the Temporary Exemption from Applying IFRS 9 (Amendments to IFRS 4) which changes the fixed expiry date for the temporary exemption (the deferral approach) in IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts from applying IFRS 9 Financial Instruments, so that entities would be required to apply IFRS 9 for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.

 

Optional

Optional

Optional

Optional

Amendments to References to the Conceptual Framework in IFRS Standards


Together with the revised Conceptual Framework published in March 2018, the IASB has also issued Amendments to References to the Conceptual Framework in IFRS Standards. The document contains amendments to IFRS 2, IFRS 3, IFRS 6, IFRS 14, IAS 1, IAS 8, IAS 34, IAS 37, IAS 38, IFRIC 12, IFRIC 19, IFRIC 20, IFRIC 22, and SIC-32. Not all amendments, however update those pronouncements with regard to references to and quotes from the framework so that they refer to the revised Conceptual Framework. Some pronouncements are only updated to indicate which version of the framework they are referencing to (the IASC framework adopted by the IASB in 2001, the IASB framework of 2010, or the new revised framework of 2018) or to indicate that definitions in the standard have not been updated with the new definitions developed in the revised Conceptual Framework.

Issued: 29 March 2018 (article)

Annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2020

Already applied in prior year (July 2020)

Already applied in prior year (April 2020)

Already applied in prior year (January 2020)

Mandatory

Definition of a Business (Amendments to IFRS 3)

The amendments in Definition of a Business (Amendments to IFRS 3) are changes to Appendix A Defined terms, the application guidance, and the illustrative examples of IFRS 3 only. They:

  • clarify that to be considered a business, an acquired set of activities and assets must include, at a minimum, an input and a substantive process that together significantly contribute to the ability to create outputs;
  • narrow the definitions of a business and of outputs by focusing on goods and services provided to customers and by removing the reference to an ability to reduce costs;
  • add guidance and illustrative examples to help entities assess whether a substantive process has been acquired;
  • remove the assessment of whether market participants are capable of replacing any missing inputs or processes and continuing to produce outputs; and
  • add an optional concentration test that permits a simplified assessment of whether an acquired set of activities and assets is not a business.

Issued: 22 October 2018 (article/newsletter)


Business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual reporting period beginning on or after 1 January 2020

Already applied in prior year (July 2020)

Already applied in prior year (April 2020)

Already applied in prior year (January 2020)

Mandatory

Definition of Material (Amendments to IAS 1 and IAS 8)

The amendments in Definition of Material (Amendments to IAS 1 and IAS 8) clarify the definition of ‘material’ and align the definition used in the Conceptual Framework and the standards.

Issued: 31 October 2018 (article)

 

Annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2020

Already applied in prior year (July 2020)

Already applied in prior year (April 2020)

Already applied in prior year (January 2020)

Mandatory

Interest Rate Benchmark Reform (Amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39 and IFRS 7)

The amendments in Interest Rate Benchmark Reform (Amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39 and IFRS 7) clarify that entities would continue to apply certain hedge accounting requirements assuming that the interest rate benchmark on which the hedged cash flows and cash flows from the hedging instrument are based will not be altered as a result of interest rate benchmark reform.

Issued: 26 September 2019 (article)

Annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2020

Already applied in prior year (July 2020)

Already applied in prior year (July 2020)

Already applied in prior year (January 2020)

Mandatory

Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions beyond 30 June 2021 (Amendment to IFRS 16)

Extends, by one year, the May 2020 amendment that provides lessees with an exemption from assessing whether a COVID-19-related rent concession is a lease modification

The Changes in Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions beyond 30 June 2021 (Amendment to IFRS 16) amend IFRS 16 to

  • permit a lessee to apply the practical expedient regarding COVID-19-related rent concessions to rent concessions for which any reduction in lease payments affects only payments originally due on or before 30 June 2022 (rather than only payments originally due on or before 30 June 2021);
  • require a lessee applying the amendment to do so for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2021;
  • require a lessee applying the amendment to do so retrospectively, recognising the cumulative effect of initially applying the amendment as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings (or other component of equity, as appropriate) at the beginning of the annual reporting period in which the lessee first applies the amendment; and
  • specify that, in the reporting period in which a lessee first applies the amendment, a lessee is not required to disclose the information required by paragraph 28(f) of IAS 8.

Issued: 31 March 2021 (article)

The amendment is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2021 (earlier application permitted, including in financial statements not yet authorised for issue at the date the amendment is issued).

 

Mandatory - endorsed by both the EU and UK.

Mandatory - Endorsed by both the UK and EU.

Optional - Endorsed by both the UK and EU.

Optional - Endorsed by both the UK and EU.

Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-Current (Amendments to IAS 1)

The amendments aim to promote consistency in applying the requirements by helping companies determine whether, in the statement of financial position, debt and other liabilities with an uncertain settlement date should be classified as current (due or potentially due to be settled within one year) or non-current

Issued: 23 January 2020 (article)

Annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023 (see 'Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current — Deferral of Effective Date (Amendment to IAS 1)' below). Original effective date 1 January 2022.

Not yet endorsed for use in the EU or the UK.

 

 

 

 

Property, Plant and Equipment — Proceeds before Intended Use (Amendments to IAS 16)

The amendments amend IAS 16 to prohibit deducting from the cost of an item of property, plant and equipment any proceeds from selling items produced while bringing that asset to the location and condition necessary for it to be capable of operating in the manner intended by management. Instead, an entity recognises the proceeds from selling such items, and the cost of producing those items, in profit or loss.

Issued: 14 May 2020 (article, newsletter)

Annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022
Endorsed for use in the EU but not in the UK.

Annual Improvements 2018-2020 Cycle

Makes amendments to the following standards:

  • IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards - Subsidiary as a first-time adopter. The amendment permits a subsidiary that applies paragraph D16(a) of IFRS 1 to measure cumulative translation differences using the amounts reported by its parent, based on the parent’s date of transition to IFRSs.
  • IFRS 9 Financial Instruments - Fees in the ‘10 per cent’ test for derecognition of financial liabilities. The amendment clarifies which fees an entity includes when it applies the ‘10 per cent’ test in paragraph B3.3.6 of IFRS 9 in assessing whether to derecognise a financial liability. An entity includes only fees paid or received between the entity (the borrower) and the lender, including fees paid or received by either the entity or the lender on the other’s behalf.
  • IFRS 16 Leases - Lease incentives. The amendment to Illustrative Example 13 accompanying IFRS 16 removes from the example the illustration of the reimbursement of leasehold improvements by the lessor in order to resolve any potential confusion regarding the treatment of lease incentives that might arise because of how lease incentives are illustrated in that example.
  • IAS 41 Agriculture - Taxation in fair value measurements. The amendment removes the requirement in paragraph 22 of IAS 41 for entities to exclude taxation cash flows when measuring the fair value of a biological asset using a present value technique. This will ensure consistency with the requirements in IFRS 13.

Issued: 14 May 2020 (article, newsletter)

The amendments to IFRS 1, IFRS 9, and IAS 41 are all effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022. Early application is permitted. The amendment to IFRS 16 only regards an illustrative example, so no effective date is stated.

Endorsed for use in the EU but not in the UK.

Reference to the Conceptual Framework (Amendments to IFRS 3)

The changes:

  • update IFRS 3 so that it refers to the 2018 Conceptual Framework instead of the 1989 Framework;
  • add to IFRS 3 a requirement that, for transactions and other events within the scope of IAS 37 or IFRIC 21, an acquirer applies IAS 37 or IFRIC 21 (instead of the Conceptual Framework) to identify the liabilities it has assumed in a business combination; and
  • add to IFRS 3 an explicit statement that an acquirer does not recognise contingent assets acquired in a business combination.

Issued: 14 May 2020 (article, newsletter)

The amendments published today are effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022. Early application is permitted if an entity also applies all other updated references (published together with the updated Conceptual Framework) at the same time or earlier

Endorsed for use in the EU but not in the UK.

Onerous Contracts — Cost of Fulfilling a Contract (Amendments to IAS 37)

The changes specify that the ‘cost of fulfilling’ a contract comprises the ‘costs that relate directly to the contract’. Costs that relate directly to a contract can either be incremental costs of fulfilling that contract (examples would be direct labour, materials) or an allocation of other costs that relate directly to fulfilling contracts (an example would be the allocation of the depreciation charge for an item of property, plant and equipment used in fulfilling the contract).

Issued: 14 MAy 2020 (article, newsletter)

Annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022. Endorsed for use in the EU but not in the UK.

Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions (Amendment to IFRS 16)

Amends IFRS 16 to provide lessees with an exemption from assessing whether a COVID-19-related rent concession is a lease modification.

The changes:

  • provide lessees with an exemption from assessing whether a COVID-19-related rent concession is a lease modification;
  • require lessees that apply the exemption to account for COVID-19-related rent concessions as if they were not lease modifications;
  • require lessees that apply the exemption to disclose that fact; and
  • require lessees to apply the exemption retrospectively in accordance with IAS 8, but not require them to restate prior period figures.

The practical expedient applies to COVID-19-related rent concessions that result in reduction in lease payments due on or before 30 June 2021.

Issued: 28 MAy 2020 (article,newsletter)

 

The amendment is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 June 2020.

 

Already applied in prior year (July 2020)

Mandatory

Mandatory

Mandatory

Amendments to IFRS 17

Amends IFRS 17 to address concerns and implementation challenges that were identified after IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts was published in 2017.

The main changes are:

  • Deferral of the date of initial application of IFRS 17 by two years to annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023
  • Additional scope exclusion for credit card contracts and similar contracts that provide insurance coverage as well as optional scope exclusion for loan contracts that transfer significant insurance risk.
  • Recognition of insurance acquisition cash flows relating to expected contract renewals, including transition provisions and guidance for insurance acquisition cash flows recognised in a business acquired in a business combination.
  • Clarification of the application of IFRS 17 in interim financial statements allowing an accounting policy choice at a reporting entity level.
  • Clarification of the application of contractual service margin (CSM) attributable to investment-return service and investment-related service and changes to the corresponding disclosure requirements.
  • Extension of the risk mitigation option to include reinsurance contracts held and non-financial derivatives.
  • Amendments to require an entity that at initial recognition recognises losses on onerous insurance contracts issued to also recognise a gain on reinsurance contracts held.
  • Simplified presentation of insurance contracts in the statement of financial position so that entities would present insurance contract assets and liabilities in the statement of financial position determined using portfolios of insurance contracts rather than groups of insurance contracts.
  • Additional transition relief for business combinations and additional transition relief for the date of application of the risk mitigation option and the use of the fair value transition approach.
  • Several small amendments regarding minor application issues.

Issued: 25 June 2020 (article)

 

The amendment is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Earlier application is permitted.

Endorsed for use in the EU but not in the UK.

Extension of the Temporary Exemption from Applying IFRS 9 (Amendments to IFRS 4)

The amendment changes the fixed expiry date for the temporary exemption in IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts from applying IFRS 9 Financial Instruments, so that entities would be required to apply IFRS 9 for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.

Issued: 25 June 2020 (article)

In June 2020 the IASB issued Extension of the Temporary Exemption from Applying IFRS 9 (Amendments to IFRS 4) which changes the fixed expiry date for the temporary exemption (the deferral approach) in IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts from applying IFRS 9 Financial Instruments, so that entities would be required to apply IFRS 9 for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.

Optional

Optional

Optional

Optional

'Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current — Deferral of Effective Date (Amendment to IAS 1)'

The amendment defers the effective date of the January 2020 amendments (see above) by one year.

Issued: 15 July 2020 (article)

 

The changes in Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current — Deferral of Effective Date defer the effective date of Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current (Amendments to IAS 1) to annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Earlier application of the January 2020 amendments continue to be permitted.

Not yet endorsed for use in the EU or the UK.

Interest Rate Benchmark Reform — Phase 2 (Amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39, IFRS 7, IFRS 4 and IFRS 16)

The amendments in Interest Rate Benchmark Reform — Phase 2 (Amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39, IFRS 7, IFRS 4 and IFRS 16) introduce a practical expedient for modifications required by the reform, clarify that hedge accounting is not discontinued solely because of the IBOR reform, and introduce disclosures that allow users to understand the nature and extent of risks arising from the IBOR reform to which the entity is exposed to and how the entity manages those risks as well as the entity’s progress in transitioning from IBORs to alternative benchmark rates, and how the entity is managing this transition.

Issued: 27 August 2020 (article)

 

Annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2021.

Mandatory - endorsed by both the EU and UK.

Mandatory - Endorsed by both the UK and EU.

Mandatory - Endorsed by both the UK and EU.

Optional - Endorsed by both the UK and EU.

Disclosure of Accounting Policies (Amendments to IAS 1 and IFRS Practice Statement 2)

The amendments require that an entity discloses its material accounting policies, instead of its significant accounting policies. Further amendments explain how an entity can identify a material accounting policy. Examples of when an accounting policy is likely to be material are added. To support the amendment, the Board has also developed guidance and examples to explain and demonstrate the application of the ‘four-step materiality process’ described in IFRS Practice Statement 2.

Issued: 12 February 2021 (article)

Annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Not yet endorsed for use in the EU or the UK.

 

 

 

 

Deferred Tax related to Assets and Liabilities arising from a Single Transaction (Amendments to IAS 12)

The amendments clarify how companies account for deferred tax on transactions such as leases and decommissioning obligations.

The amendments provide an exemption from the initial recognition exemption provided in IAS 12.15(b) and IAS 12.24. Accordingly, the initial recognition exemption does not apply to transactions in which both deductible and taxable temporary differences arise on initial recognition that result in the recognition of equal deferred tax assets and liabilities.

Issued: 7 May 2021 (article)

Annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Not yet endorsed for use in the EU or the UK.

Initial Application of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 — Comparative Information (Amendment to IFRS 17)


The amendment permits entities that first apply IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 at the same time to present comparative information about a financial asset as if the classification and measurement requirements of IFRS 9 had been applied to that financial asset before.

Issued: 9 December 2021 (article)

An entity that elects to apply the amendment applies it when it first applies IFRS 17
Not yet endorsed for use in the UK or EU.

Definition of Accounting Estimates (Amendments to IAS 8)

The amendments replace the definition of a change in accounting estimates with a definition of accounting estimates. Under the new definition, accounting estimates are “monetary amounts in financial statements that are subject to measurement uncertainty”. Entities develop accounting estimates if accounting policies require items in financial statements to be measured in a way that involves measurement uncertainty. The amendments clarify that a change in accounting estimate that results from new information or new developments is not the correction of an error.

Issued: 12 February 2021 (article)

 

 

Annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Not yet endorsed for use in the EU or the UK.

 

 

 

Deloitte document (mid gray) Image

IFRS model financial statements 2021

11 Oct, 2021

The model financial statements of International GAAP Holdings Limited for the year ended 31 December 2021 are intended to illustrate the presentation and disclosure requirements of IFRSs without the use of any actual numbers. They also contain additional disclosures that are considered to be best practice, particularly where such disclosures are included in illustrative examples provided within a specific Standard.

The publication includes:

  • Consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income
  • Consolidated statement of financial position
  • Consolidated statement of changes in equity
  • Consolidated statement of cash flows
  • Notes to the consolidated financial statements
  • Independent auditor’s report
  • Appendix 1 – Areas of the model financial statements affected by climate change and COVID-19

Please click to download the publication here.

FRC Image

FRC issues its 2022 suite of Taxonomies

11 Oct, 2021

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued the 2022 suite of FRC Taxonomies.

The suite is updated for all FRC taxonomies and the key changes to the 2022 suite include:

  • The Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) taxonomy containing the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) disclosures has been incorporated into the main body of the FRC suite.
  • The SECR and TCFD tags are now found in all the Directors’ Report section of the FRC Taxonomies (except for the Irish extensions and UKSEF).
  • The SECR Taxonomy has had its TCFD disclosures augmented to reflect expected enhanced disclosures from companies looking to provide such information to investors.
  • The UKSEF imports the most up-to-date version of the ESEF and can be used with tags from the rest of the FRC taxonomies suite (including tags for the Directors Report, SECR and TCFD disclosures) for UK reporting purposes to Companies House and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
  • The FRC taxonomies now supports a Welsh label linkbase.
  • HMRC’s Detailed Profit & Loss (DPL) taxonomy extension is now part of the Directors’ Report.
  • Tags for Gender Pay Gap reporting have been included in the Directors Report for those who wish to tag these concepts.
  • A tag for Academies will be inserted into the Charity Accounts Taxonomy to enable Academies to be able to digitally report.

The 2022 suite represents the most up to date version of the FRC Taxonomies and as such should be used to comply with HMRC requirements to fully tag. It is expected that Companies House will have enabled this suite by 1 April 2022 and the FCA will have enabled the suite by 31 December 2021. The Charity Accounts Taxonomy may be used by all charities preparing accounts in accordance with the Charities FRS 102 SORP and is mandatory for large charities with income over £6.5m filing with HMRC.

The press release and updated taxonomies are available on the FRC website.

FRC Image

FRC publishes thematic review findings on APMs

11 Oct, 2021

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published the results of its thematic review into the use of Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) by UK-listed companies. The review identifies areas of good practice, opportunities for improvement and areas to be avoided when using APMs.

A sample of 20 companies' annual reports from different industry sectors was selected for review.  It was found that, generally disclosures around the use of APMs were of good quality.  The FRC saw more companies providing reconciliations of APMs to their equivalent IFRS or UK GAAP measures and also some improvement in the labelling of APMs and in their definitions.  However, against these areas of improvement the FRC also found that companies in the sample:

  • provided greater prominence or authority to APMs over GAAP measures in some areas of reporting (c50% of the sample reviewed).
  • sometimes obscured relevant GAAP information by using large numbers of APMs.  The FRC encourages companies to consider the number of APMs that they present in this regard, for example removing those multiple variants of similar APMs or avoiding using APMs with only immaterial adjustments to IFRS measures.
  • adjusted for more costs than income when calculating profit-based APMs.  In the sample reviewed, 19 of the 20 excluded more expenses than income from their APMs with the result that they reported more favourable adjusted results than GAAP results.  The FRC reminds companies to be even-handed in the treatment of gains and losses when classifying amounts as adjusting items.
  • could have improved explanations for APMs by providing more granular information. 
  • provided reconciliations for the most commonly used APMs but there were examples where reconciliations for some APMs were omitted, where explanations for reconciling items could have been improved or where APMs were not reconciled to a GAAP number.
  • adjusted for the effects of significant multi-year restructuring programmes, but they did not disclose relevant information such as cumulative costs, total expected cash costs and expected durations of the programmes.
  • used terms such as 'underlying profit', 'non-underlying items' and 'core operations' without an explanation of what these terms meant.
  • did not provide disclosures about tax relating to individual categories of adjusting items
  • did not always disclose the cash flow implications of certain adjusting items such as restructuring and litigation costs.

The FRC expects companies to consider the better disclosures in the report in the forthcoming reporting season.  It expects preparers to:

  • Ensure that APMs are not presented in ways that give them greater prominence than amounts stemming from the financial statements.
  • Avoid comments that imply APMs have more authority than amounts stemming from the financial statements.
  • Provide specific, tailored explanations for the inclusion of individual APMs in their reports, as well as the basis for classifying amounts as adjusting items.
  • Explain terms such as ‘underlying profit' or 'core operations' and the basis for identifying adjustments as 'non-underlying' or non-core’.
  • Ensure that APMs are reconciled to the most directly reconcilable line items, subtotals or totals presented in the financial statements, and not to other APMs.
  • Disclose relevant information for any significant multi-year restructuring programmes that are classified as adjusting items.
  • Disclose the cash flow impact of material adjusting items and exceptional items.
  • Explain tax matters relating to APMs by:
    • Including tax matters in their accounting policies for APMs (including accounting policies for classifying material or unusual tax amounts as adjusting items).
    • Providing granular information on the effective tax rate on adjusting items, where necessary.

A press release and the full report is available on the FRC website.  A webinar to discuss the report will be held on October 20.  A press release including details of how to register for the webinar is available on the FRC website.  

EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) (dk green) Image

EFRAG survey on IASB’s project on disclosure requirements in IFRSs

08 Oct, 2021

The EFRAG, in coordination with the IASB, is currently conducting field testing on the IASB’s Exposure Draft ED/2021/3, ‘Disclosure Requirements in IFRS Standards — A Pilot Approach’. As entities currently participating in the fieldwork activities are generally large entities, EFRAG has issued a questionnaire aimed at small and medium entities.

Completion of the questionnaire should take approximately 20-30 minutes. The survey deadline has been extended to 30 November 2021. Please click for more information and access to the survey on the EFRAG website.

 

EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) (dk green) Image

EFRAG final comment letter on the IASB's proposed narrow-scope amendment to IFRS 17

08 Oct, 2021

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has issued its final comment letter on the International Accounting Standard Board's (IASB's) exposure draft ED/2021/8 'Initial Application of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 — Comparative Information (Proposed amendment to IFRS 17)' ("the ED").

In its final comment letter EFRAG expresses its appreciation for the IASB’s swift response and delivery of the exposure draft.  EFRAG welcomes and supports the IASB's proposal as it will allow insurance entities to provide more useful information about their activities during the comparative period and also reduce operational challenges.  EFRAG also commends the IASB for addressing most of the comments raised by European constituents in this area.

Overall, EFRAG agrees with the IASB proposals in the exposure draft but does flag some remaining concerns that it would like the IASB to address when finalising the amendment.  For example, ​EFRAG recommends that the IASB aligns the scope of the classification overlay and the temporary exemption from applying IFRS 9 (which is under IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts) due to operational complexity and presentation inconsistencies in the consolidated financial statements.

Also, EFRAG suggests that the IASB states explicitly that the classification overlay may be applied from a date pre-dating the publication of the ED or the final amendment. 

The press release and the final comment letter are available on the EFRAG website. 

IFRS Foundation (blue) Image
Leaf - sustainability (green) Image

IFRS Foundation publishes webcast on the Technical Readiness Working Group

07 Oct, 2021

The IFRS Foundation has published a webcast which provides an introduction of the Technical Readiness Working Group (TRWG) members, summary of its work programme, and an expected timeline of the TRWG.

The TRWG provides technical observations and proposals for consideration which supports early standard-setting activities for the International Sustainability Standards Board. For more information, see the press release on the IASB’s website.

PRA Image

PRA publishes its thematic feedback from the 2020/2021 round of written auditor reporting

06 Oct, 2021

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published a letter to chief financial officers of selected deposit-takers which provides thematic feedback from the PRA’s review of written auditor reports received in 2021.

The letter includes thematic findings on IFRS 9 expected credit loss accounting (ECL) and thematic findings relating to the global benchmark reform.  It also sets out how the PRA intends to use next year’s round of written auditor reporting to explore risks related to climate change.

The full letter is available on the PRA website.

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.