Below is an analysis of all changes made to the work plan since our last analysis on 31 January 2020.

Stan­dard-set­ting projects

• Disclosure initiative — Subsidiaries that are SMEs — Project has been retitled to indicate that the project is now considered as part of the disclosure initiative. No expected date is given on the current stage in the process.

Main­te­nance projects

• Accounting policy changes (amendments to IAS 8) — A decision on the project direction is expected in the second quarter of 2020.
• Availability of a Refund (Amendments to IFRIC 14) — the Board decided at its February 2020 meeting not to finalise the amendment, however, Board members could not reach a conclusion on whether to take this matter forward in a different context or format.
• Disclosure initiative — Accounting policies — the Board discussed feedback on its exposure draft in its February 2020 meeting and removed the expected date for this stage from the work plan.

Research projects

• Post-implementation Review of IFRS 10, IFRS 11 and IFRS 12 — Research review is expected in March 2020 (previously February 2020).

Other projects

• Due Process Handbook — the revised Due Process Handbook is expected in April 2020.

The above is a faithful com­par­i­son of the IASB work plan at 31 January 2020 and at 28 February 2020. For access to the current IASB work plan at any time, please click here.

Item for Continuing Discussion

IFRS 16 Leases—Sale and leaseback with variable payments (Agenda Paper 2): As requested by Committee members in the November meeting, the staff analyse the seller-lessee's subsequent accounting for the liability arising from a sale and leaseback transaction. The staff recommend that, regarding the accounting of such a sale and leaseback transaction at the date of the transaction, the Committee not develop an Interpretation. However, they do recommend that the IASB propose an Annual Improvement that clarifies how the seller-lessee measures the lease liability.

New Issue

IAS 12 Income Taxes—Deferred tax related to a subsidiary's undistributed profits (Agenda Paper 3): Should an entity recognise deferred tax for the temporary differences arising from undistributed profits of a subsidiary? The staff think that deferred tax should be recognised and recommend that the Committee publish a tentative agenda decision explaining why neither an interpretation of, or amendment to, IAS 12 is necessary.

Agenda Decisions to Finalise

IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates and IAS 29 Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies—Translation of a hyperinflationary foreign operation (Agenda Paper 4): The staff recommend finalising all three agenda decisions, with some amended wording.

IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers—Training costs to fulfil a contract (Agenda Paper 5): The staff recommend finalising an amended agenda decision to confirm that training costs incurred by a supplier in relation to revenue contracts are in the scope of IAS 38 and must be expensed as incurred.

Work in progress (Agenda Paper 6)

There are no new matters that have not yet been presented to the Committee.

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

The research report reviews both the Australian and international literatures for service performance reporting for not-for-profits (NFPs).

Under the Australian reporting framework, disclosure of service performance information is mostly unregulated for private NFPs. Due to a general lack of emphasis on non-financial information in both national and state legislations, the information being reported by NFPs is insufficient to meet users’ need.

This report also suggests that the introduction of a tiered service performance reporting framework could assist in alleviating operational and cost pressures on smaller NFPs.

Findings in this report support the AASB’s project aimed at determining whether the IASB's Practice Statement 1: Management Commentary currently being updated by the IASB can be adequately adapted to become a mandatory standard in Australia.

Please click to access the research report on the AASB website.

The report provides information on the current reporting environment, the benefits of accruals in the public sector, lessons learned during the implementation phase, and key findings and recommendations.

For more information, see the press release on the IFAC’s website.

The ITCG discussed the following:

• IFRS Taxonomy modelling for the Exposure Draft General Presentation and Disclosures.
• Review of common reporting practice related to:
  • Primary financial statements.
  • IAS 19 Employee Benefits.
  • IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures.
• Review of the IFRS Taxonomy supporting material.
• Update on the IFRS Taxonomy strategy.

For more in­for­ma­tion, see the summary on the IASB’s website.

The statement includes eight actions which accountants are called upon to take in response to the climate emergency. It also includes commitments from the bodies themselves in support of their members. The call to action highlights that climate change represents an economic, social and business risk – a risk that accountants from across the world must take action on.

Please click to access the call to action on the A4S website.

The proposed new standard is intended to replace IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements.

In its draft comment letter, EFRAG

• supports the IASB's proposals to present an operating, investing and financing category in the statement of profit or loss to improve comparability and reduce diversity in practice, but has reservations over some of the proposals in the ED;
• expresses the view that separate presentation of integral and non-integral associates and joint ventures will result in relevant information for users of financial statements and enhance comparability, but will involve significant judgement and needs to be tested in practice;
• welcomes the IASB's efforts to provide guidance on management performance measures but highlights a number of challenges in regard to the ED proposals and also mentions the possibility of an alternative narrower scope; and
• welcomes the IASB's efforts to define unusual income and expenses and to require entities to disclose such items in the notes, but notes that the definition of unusual items seems to be rather narrow.

Comments on EFRAG's draft comment letter are requested by 19 June 2020. For more information, see the press release and the draft comment letter on the EFRAG's website.

The Trustees are seeking new SMEIG members from all geographical regions and are particularly interested in candidates who use the financial statements of small and medium-sized entities (investors and providers of finance). They will be appointed from 1 July 2020 and would serve three-year terms. Nominations for membership of the SMEIG close on 20 March 2020. Please click for the IASB press release (link to IASB website).

The three exposure drafts are published together to highlight the linkages between the accounting for revenue and transfer expenses.

• ED 70 is aligned with IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers, while extending the income recognition approach in IFRS 15 to address common public sector transactions which include performance obligations, including those where the ultimate beneficiary is a third party.
• ED 71 is an update of IPSAS 23 Revenue from Non-Exchange Transactions (Taxes and Transfers) that addresses some of the issues encountered in its application. ED 71 also provides public sector-specific guidance on capital transfers for the first time.
• ED 72 proposes guidance for transfer expenses, where a transfer provider provides resources to another entity without receiving anything directly in return.

The comment period for the EDs has been extended and comments are now requested by 1 November 2020.

Please click to access the following additional information on the IPSASB website:

• Press release
• Access to the individual exposure draft, a short introductory webinar and an At a Glance introduction
  
  • ED 70
  • ED 71
  • ED 72

The Committee will discuss the following:

• Administrative matters
• IFRS 16 — Sale and leaseback with variable payments
• IAS 12 — Deferred tax related to a subsidiary's undistributed profits
• IAS 12/IAS 29 — Translation of hyperinflationary foreign operation
• IFRS 15 — Training costs to fulfil a contract
• Work in progress

The full agenda for the meeting can be found here. We will post any updates to the agenda, our com­pre­hen­sive pre-meet­ing summaries as well as observer notes from the meeting on this page as they become available.