The only point for discussion will be the comment letter analysis and redeliberation of the proposed amendment to IFRS 16 in relation to COVID-19-related rent concessions. An agenda paper for the meeting is not yet available. The IASB expects to post the paper on 12 May.

The CMAC/GPF meeting was originally scheduled for 18-19 June 2020. A new date has not yet been announced.

The ASAF meeting was to be held on 9-10 July. It has been cancelled completely and the next regularly meeting is currently scheduled for 1-2 October 2020. 

Topics to be discussed include:

• Presentation of Financial Statements in the Public Sector
• Differential Reporting
• Contextual Factors and Imprudent Discount Rate Assumptions
• Disclosure of Tax Expenditures

Registration is now open until 15 May. Participants can attend free of charge, however, registration is required.

Please click for more information on the IPSASB website.

The newsletter provides an update of the Lab's current projects and a brief overview of its other activities.  Some highlights include:

• that the Lab's work on business models is being paused with a greater focus on those areas where investors are currently demanding more information.  To feed into this work the Lab have launched a survey on what information investors might want and need.
• the release, in January, of the Lab's workforce reporting report.
• flagging guidance issued by the FRC on COVID-19.

The full newsletter is available on the FRC website here.

The update reports on the EFRAG Board webcast meeting on 21 April, the EFRAG webcast meetings on 6, 8 and 29 April, the EFRAG TEG webcast meeting on 16 April and the meeting of the European Lab Steering Group on 22 April.

The update also lists EFRAG publications issued in April:

• EFRAG's draft comment letter and a preparatory draft of the endorsement advice on the IASB Exposure Draft ED/2020/2 Covid-19 - Related Rent Concessions (amendment to IFRS 16);
• EFRAG's draft comment letter in response to the IASB Exposure Draft ED/2020/1 Interest Rate Benchmark Reform - Phase 2 (proposed amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39, IFRS 7, IFRS 4 and IFRS 16); and
• EFRAG's feedback statement on its Discussion Paper Accounting for Pension Plans with an Asset-Return Promise.

Please click to download the April EFRAG Update from the EFRAG website.

The first part of the guide provides advice for auditors when testing the going concern assessments of reporting entities impacted by COVID-19. It offers practical considerations in relation to ISA 570 requirements. It covers:

• the going concern basis of accounting;
• auditing going concern; and
• concluding on going concern

The second part of the guide sets out the steps auditors need to take to ascertain whether material uncertainty disclosures in relation to going concern in the financial statements are adequate, and how these disclosures will then impact the audit report. It supplements the guidance in the Financial Reporting Faculty’s audit report guides. It covers:

• determining whether there are material uncertainties;
• determining whether disclosures are adequate;
• how auditors should approach disclosures included within other information;
• how to make the necessary changes to the auditor’s report;
• how to report on key audit matters; and
• what to do if the auditor concludes that disclosures are not adequate

A press release and the two part guide is available on the ICAEW website. Our news item on the FRC’s March 2020 Bulletin for auditors is here.

Background

On 23 January 2020, the IASB issued Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current (Amendments to IAS 1) providing a more general approach to the classification of liabilities under IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements based on the contractual arrangements in place at the reporting date. The amendments currently have an effective date of 1 January 2022.

In April 2020, the IASB held a supplementary IASB meeting to consider COVID-19-related matters including the Board's timelines in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board tentatively decided to delay by one year 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.

The proposed amendment published today is solely seeking to delay the effective date of the January 2020 amendments by one year.

Suggested changes

The changes proposed in ED/2020/3 Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current — Deferral of Effective Date (Proposed amendment to IAS 1) would 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 would continue to be permitted.

Comment period

Comments on the exposure draft are requested by 3 June 2020. The shortened comment period of 30 days was approved in a DPOC meeting on 16 April 2020.

Additional information

Please click for:

• IASB press release (link to IASB website)
• Access to the exposure draft on the IASB website
• Our UK Accounting Plus project page on Classification of liabilities — Effective date
• Our related Need to know publication

Comments on Tentative Agenda Decision

IAS 12 Income Taxes—Multiple Tax Consequences of Recovering an Asset (Agenda Paper 2): The Committee decided to finalise the agenda decision, with some suggested changes to the drafting.

Research Summary

Supply Chain Financing—Reverse Factoring (Agenda Paper 3): The Committee members provided suggestions for the questions to be addressed in the upcoming agenda paper for supply chain financing.

More Information

Please click to access the detailed notes taken by Deloitte observers.

A summary of the agenda is set out below:

Agenda papers for the meeting are available on the IASB website.

In the draft comment letter, EFRAG agrees with the proposals in the exposure draft published last Friday that would provide lessees with an exemption from assessing whether a COVID-19-related rent concession is a lease modification. However, EFRAG would support expanding the scope of the amendment to include all rent concessions granted during 2020 and not just payments due in 2020.

EFRAG has also published a preparatory draft of an endorsement advice of the amendment. Doing so before issuance of the final amendment by the IASB is intended to allow for the finalisation of the endorsement advice as soon as possible after the IASB has issued the amendment to IFRS 16. The preparatory draft of the endorsement advice is based on the assumption that the final amendment will not be substantially different from the proposals in the exposure draft.

Comments on EFRAG's draft comment letter are requested by 7 May 2020, comments the preparatory draft of an endorsement advice by 20 May 2020. For more information, see the press release, the draft comment letter and the preparatory draft of an endorsement advice on the EFRAG website.

EFRAG is also offering a public outreach event on the exposure draft on Thursday 7 May 2020. More information is available here.