News

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IPSASB publishes guidance on the applicability of IPSASs

22 Apr, 2016

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has published 'The Applicability of IPSASs' and a revised 'Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards', which change how the IPSASB communicates the type of public sector entities that it considers when developing its guidance.

Until now, the IPSASB guidance included a definition of a Government Business Enterprise (GBE) and a statement that GBEs apply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The definition of a GBE has proved ambiguous in places and difficult for preparers to interpret. The guidance now published

  • provides the characteristics of public sector entities for which IPSAS are designed,
  • replaces the term GBE with the term “commercial public sector entities”,
  • removes the definition of a GBE from IPSAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements, and
  • amends the scope section of each existing pronouncement by removing the paragraph that states that the pronouncement does not apply to GBEs.

Please click for a press release with access to the new guidance on the IPSASB website.

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April 2016 IASB meeting notes posted

21 Apr, 2016

The IASB met at its offices in London on 19–21 April 2016. We have posted the Deloitte observer notes from all of the sessions held.

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We comment on the BIS consultation on the UK implementation of the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive

21 Apr, 2016

We have published our comment letter on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) consultation on the UK implementation of the EU Non-Financial Reporting (NFR) Directive.

Overall, we believe that substantial further thought needs to be given as to how the NFR Directive should be implemented. Our key comments are:

  • we do not believe that either of the two implementation options that have been put forward provide an acceptable outcome and we have proposed a third option which we believe is simpler and enacts the NFR Directive effectively without undue burden;
  • the way in which the UK implements the gender diversity requirements of the Directive requires careful thought in terms of how those requirements are implemented, where information should be presented, and the scope of entities to which it applies or should apply;
  • the option to present information as required by the NFR Directive, and other information, in a separate report needs to be considered carefully; and
  • we do not believe that verification of the non-financial information by an independent assurance provider should be made mandatory.

Please click to access the full comment letter.

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Agenda for the June 2016 ITCG meeting

21 Apr, 2016

The agenda is available for the next meeting of the IFRS Taxonomy Consultative Group (ITCG), which will be held in London on 7 June 2016.

The agenda is summarised below:

Tuesday 7 June 2015 (09:00-16:40)

  • Welcome
  • Update on activities
  • Use of structured electronic reporting (including the IFRS Taxonomy)
  • IFRS Foundation’s strategy for technology and taxonomy
  • IFRS Taxonomy implementation guidance
    • User experiences and introduction
    • Small group discussions
    • Summary small group discussions
  • IFRS Taxonomy content areas for review
  • IFRS Taxonomy educational materials
    • Guide to IFRS Taxonomy common practice content
  • Implementation of Taxonomy Packaging 1.0
    • Versioning control and translations
  • ITCG member updates

Agenda papers for this meeting are available on the IASB's website.

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Agenda for current IASB meeting changed

20 Apr, 2016

Please note that the IASB is making faster progress on the discussions during this month's meeting. Some Agenda consultation sections were pulled forward as was the discussion of financial instruments with characteristics of equity, which will now be held this afternoon from 16:15–17:45.

Please click for our updated agenda and first meeting notes from yesterday's discussions.

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2016 IFRS XBRL taxonomy webinar - recording available

20 Apr, 2016

On 31 March 2016, the IFRS Foundation issued its 2016 IFRS Taxonomy. On 13 April 2016, the IFRS Taxonomy team held a webinar session to answer questions about the IFRS Taxonomy 2016. A recording of that webinar is now available.

To listen to the webinar and view the slides on the IFRS Foundation website please click here.

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EDs of first set of GRI sustainability reporting standards available for comment

20 Apr, 2016

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has released exposure drafts of an initial set of six GRI Standards developed by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB).

These include three standards that will be applicable to all organisations:

  • The Foundation Standard including the reporting principles and ‘in accordance’ criteria;
  • The General Disclosures Standard covering organisational profile, governance, stakeholder engagement, reporting practice, strategy and analysis; and
  • The Management Approach Standard including the disclosure on management approach.

There are also exposure drafts of three topic-specific standards: Emissions, Indirect Economic Impacts and Public Policy.

Please click to access the exposure drafts and a corresponding press release on the GRI website.

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IASB votes to reconfirm overlay and deferral approach

19 Apr, 2016

The IASB has just voted in favour of the staff recommendations in connection with the redeliberation of the proposals around the application of IFRS 4 together with IFRS 9.

There was a clear majority for supporting the staff's recommendations. 13 board members were present, and only one board member voted against all staff recommendations. Another board member voted for most of the staff recommendations but against the recommendations around disclosures. There were some smaller comments by board members that will lead to changes, however, these are mainly directed towards easier application. Thus, the approaches proposed in the Exposure Draft “Amendments to IFRS 4: Applying IFRS 9 Financial Instruments with IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts” (overlay approach and deferral approach) have been essentially reconfirmed.

A more detailed summary of the IASB's discussion can be found in our IAS Plus meeting notes from the meeting.

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ACCA comments on BIS consultation on disclosure of non-financial and diversity information

19 Apr, 2016

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has published its comment letter on the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ (BIS’s) consultation on the UK implementation of the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive 2014/95/EU on disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups.

The EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive was approved by the council of the European Union in September 2014. It requires large public-interest companies with more than 500 employees to disclose relevant and material environmental and social information in their annual report. Public interest companies are those with securities admitted to a regulated market in the EU together with credit institutions and insurance undertakings.

Those within scope will also be required to provide information on their diversity policy, covering age, gender, geographical diversity, and educational and professional background. Disclosures shall set out the objectives of the policy, how it has been implemented, and results.

The BIS consultation was published in February 2016.

The ACCA comments that the non-financial disclosures required under the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive should be provided in the strategic report.  It believes that “the placement of non-financial information is linked to the application of materiality” and indicates that information should only be included within the strategic report where it is material to shareholders’ decision making.  The ACCA comments that “immaterial supplementary information or regulatory disclosures can be reported separately, for example on company websites”.  Further the ACCA comments that entities should be permitted flexibility to make judgements about what information should be reported in the strategic report and what information should be reported separately and “encourages the Government and FRC to provide clear, practical guidance around the application of materiality in reporting non-financial information”.

Regarding scope, the ACCA indicates that the scope of the existing strategic reporting requirements in the UK should be extended to include all of those additional requirements under the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive (for example anti-corruption and bribery disclosures).  It also comments that the requirements should then apply to all listed companies as well as unlisted public interest entities.  The ACCA comments

We acknowledge that this approach would exceed the intended scope of the EU NFR Directive by extending the enhanced non-financial reporting requirements to quoted public companies with less than 500 employees. However, in our opinion the benefits outweigh the incremental costs, especially as these quoted public companies already comply with the Strategic Report requirements under CA 2006

The ACCA does not believe in the introduction of additional mandatory requirements for verification of non-financial information by an independent assurance service provider.  It comments that “demand for additional assurance should be market led, and not mandated by legislation”.

Finally, the ACCA indicates that “practical guidance around the implementation of the EU NFR Directive is urgently needed”.  Specifically it mentions guidance would be required around the framework for non-financial reporting and materiality.  The European Commission has recently issued a public consultation on non-binding guidance on the methodology for reporting of non-financial information and the ACCA “would urge the Government to push for the EU Commission to make the non-binding guidelines as helpful and practical as possible for companies applying the Directive”.  As well as providing comments to the BIS consultation on UK implementation, the ACCA has also provided its comments on the European Commission’s consultation on non-binding guidelines which can be downloaded below.

Click for:

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ICAEW to hold a technical update event

19 Apr, 2016

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is holding a technical update event in May for recently qualified members.

The event will consist of several short presentations and will include:

 Further details as well as registration details are available on the ICAEW website.

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