The IFRIC discussed a request for guidance from the staff about how best to proceed with this project.

Some IFRIC members were in favour of developing an Interpretation on this pervasive accounting issue. There is existing guidance in some jurisdictions (for example, the UK and US) that is not inconsistent with IAS 18 Revenue. An Interpretation would reduce a perceived diversity in practice. Other IFRIC members saw the issue as one that could potentially lead to a rule-based interpretation. Identifying agency relationships is often difficult in practice and this would not change as a result of anything that IFRIC could hope to achieve. However, to the extent that there is useful guidance that might command the support of a majority of IFRIC, some guidance might be worthwhile.

The IFRIC members agreed to share any existing guidance of which they are aware (including internal guidance) with the staff. If the staff determined that there is a high degree of consistency around that guidance, it might indicate that either (a) no Interpretation is necessary; or (b) an Interpretation could be developed quite quickly. If the staff concluded that there is little consistency, an Interpretation project might be necessary.

The IFRIC will return to this issue at a subsequent meeting.