May

IFAC survey shows adoption of international standards to be on the increase

07 May 2018

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has published the results of a survey among its members as 'International Standards: 2017 Global Status Report'. The report includes a section on adoption of IFRSs.

IFAC surveyed 104 of its member organisations in 80 jurisdictions around the world for the report. Of these 80 jurisdictions 58% (46) have adopted IFRSs, 32% (26) have partially adopted IFRSs, and 10% (8) have not adopted IFRSs.

Jurisdictions that have fully adopted IFRSs (58%) have different processes to adopt the standards:

  • The most common mode of adoption is through an endorsement process that may include translation and republication of IFRSs for application in the jurisdiction (33%).
  • 23% of the jurisdictions have adopted through direct reference in law.
  • 3% of the jurisdictions have eliminated the differences between its national standards and IFRS through a convergence process.

A common feature in almost all of the jusrisctions that have only partially adopted IFRSs (32%) is that IFRSs are required for the preparation of financial statements of some types of public interest entities, and national standards — which apply for all other companies — differ from IFRSs.

Out of the 10% of the jurisdictions that have not adopted IFRSs, accounting standards in 5 jurisdictions are established at the regional level. The remaining 3 jurisdictions require the use of national accounting standards, which are not in line with IFRSs.

Please click to access the full report on the IFAC website.

IFRS 17 impact survey

07 May 2018

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has commissioned an ex-ante impact analysis of the likely economic consequences of implementing IFRS 17 'Insurance Contracts'.

One of the sources of information for the impact analysis is a survey that was launched on 4 May. Please click for more information on the EFRAG website.

Pre-meeting summaries for the April 2018 IFRS Interpretations Committee meeting

04 May 2018

The IFRS Interpretations Committee will meet via Video Conference Call on Wednesday 9 May 2018. The Committee will discuss two issues, including one new interpretation request. The meeting starts at 12 noon London time and the meeting is scheduled to last just under two hours.

The accounting when an entity makes a voluntary payment to a tax authority in relation to a disputed amount was discussed initially in March. The staff are recommending that the Committee not take the matter onto its agenda. The paper also includes a discussion on how the staff thinks the IAS 8 hierarchy should be applied when there is conflict between a definition in the new Conceptual Framework and a definition in IFRS Standards.

The new issue relates to the Venezuelan Bolivar and its lack of exchangeability. This is a preliminary discussion on how, or whether, the Committee should respond.

The staff will also discuss work in progress.

The full agenda for the meeting and our pre-meeting summaries can be found here. We will update this page for any changes to the agenda and our Deloitte observer notes from the meeting as they become available.

Recording of the web presentation introducing the revised Conceptual Framework

02 May 2018

On 18 April 2018, the IASB offerd two live web presentations to introduce the revised Conceptual Framework. A recording is now available through YouTube.

Board member Françoise Flores and technical staff provide an overview of the revised Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, followed by a Q&A session.

Please click to access the recording here.

AASB research into public sector accounting

02 May 2018

The Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) has published its Research Report No. 6 'Financial Reporting Requirements Applicable to Australia Public Sector Entities' that also includes a comparison of Australian reporting requirements with the requirements in other comparable jurisdictions.

The report notes that public sector entities in Australia complain of financial reporting complexity, inconsistent requirements and that the reports do not focus on the needs of stakeholders. It also notes that the cost of preparation (including valuation of non-financial assets) and audit of these financial statements is estimated to be more than $1 billion annually.

To understand the basis for public sector entities’ criticism, the new research report looks into whether the current Australian public sector financial reporting requirements are necessary to adequately hold the public sector accountable for the use of taxpayers’ monies and benchmarks the financial reporting requirements applicable to public sector entities in Australia and seven comparable international jurisdictions (Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, UK, and United States of America).

The research report is available here.

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