News

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Comments invited on proposed 2010 IFRS XBRL taxonomy

21 Feb 2010

The IASC Foundation invited comment on the proposed IFRS XBRL taxonomy for 2010. The proposed taxonomy is consistent with both full IFRSs and the IFRS for Small and Medium-sized Entities.

A separate taxonomy for the IFRS for SMEs will not be issued. The IFRS Taxonomy 2010 is a translation of IFRSs as issued at 1 January 2010 into XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language). Comments on the proposed IFRS Taxonomy 2010 are invited by 22 April 2010. The proposed taxonomy and related material can be accessed Here. The final version is expected to be released at the end of April 2010.

 

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Notes from Feb 2010 IASB meeting day 5

20 Feb 2010

The IASB held its February 2010 monthly Board meeting at its offices in London on Monday to Friday, 15-19 February 2010.

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial Notes Taken by Deloitte Observers at the meeting.

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Hyperinflationary economies

19 Feb 2010

Both IFRSs and US GAAP require that the financial statements of an entity that reports in the currency of a hyperinflationary economy should be stated in terms of the measuring unit current at the balance sheet date.

In other words, the amounts in those financial statements must be restated for changes in the general purchasing power of the reporting currency. For a number of years, the International Practices Task Force of the American Institute of CPAs has published unofficial guidance on the inflation status of countries that appear to be at or near the hyperinflation level. The AICPA (through its Center for Audit Quality) has just released CAQ Alert #2010-11 Monitoring Inflation Status of Certain Countries The Alert states the following view of the Task Force:

The following countries should continue to be considered highly inflationary as of 30 September 2009:

  • Myanmar
  • Zimbabwe
The following country should be considered highly inflationary for periods beginning on or after 1 December 2009:
  • Venezuela
The following countries are on the Task Force's inflation 'watch list':
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Ethiopia
  • Guinea
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Seychelles
Click to Download CAQ Alert #2010-11 (PDF 65k), which is copyright by Center for Audit Quality and posted on IAS Plus with their kind permission.

 

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Board and audit committee consideration of IFRSs

19 Feb 2010

IFRSs continue to be an area of focus among US financial leaders in 2010. The movement toward IFRSs not only has challenged US regulators to revisit current public reporting requirements and the needs of investors, but has also raised important questions for US company leaders about how to navigate changes associated with the global accounting standards.

To help boards and audit committees stay current on this important and evolving topic, Deloitte (United States) has published IFRS: What Should Boards and Audit Committees be Considering Now? It addresses key questions and includes some practical guidance and updates. Sections include:
  • Foreword by Jim Quigley, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
  • Where are we now?
  • What are US companies doing today?
  • What should boards and audit committees be considering?
  • A practical 'Issues Guide' outlining some potential accounting differences between IFRS and US GAAP, as well as presenting questions the board and audit committee can raise with management
Click to download IFRS: What Should Boards and Audit Committees be Considering Now? (PDF 623k). Many other Deloitte IFRS publications are Here.

 

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Notes from Feb 2010 IASB meeting day 4

19 Feb 2010

The IASB is holding its February 2010 monthly Board meeting at its offices in London on Monday to Friday, 15-19 February 2010.

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial Notes Taken by Deloitte Observers at the meeting. The IASB held its own meeting during the morning, followed by a joint meeting with the FASB in the afternoon.

 

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FEI recommendations on IASB-FASB convergence

19 Feb 2010

The Committee on Corporate Reporting (CCR) of Financial Executives International (FEI) has sent two letters to both the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board with recommendations on the boards' projects to converge their standards.

  • One of the Letters (PDF 114k) addresses the effective dates and transition methodology in the major convergence standards. CCR states that the current proposed dates present challenges to realising a high quality implementation. They recommend that the Boards deliberate the effective dates and transition of the major convergence standards as a package, rather than on a standard-by-standard basis, because those standards are interdependent and will have a significant impact on companies. CCR cites Financial Statement Presentation, Leases, Pensions, and reporting cash flow from operations by the direct method as having the greatest impact on accounting information systems. CCR recommends:
    • Adopt a common effective date for the final converged standards that provides a three-year implementation period, allowing for early adoption.
    • Permit preparers as much flexibility as possible in choosing the manner of initial adoption (retroactive restatement, cumulative effect, or prospective).
  • In the Other Letter (PDF 85k), CCR offers to assist the IASB and FASB with the ongoing MoU projects. CCR notes that these projects pose a 'multitude of potential challenges' including the reliability of information requested, the collection of such data in a global organisation, implementation and costs of systems changes in the disparate systems environment that exists in most companies. CCR proposes that FEI member companies provide corporate representatives to work as part of smaller resource groups with FASB and IASB project managers as convergence projects continue to evolve.

Click for FEI Press Release (PDF 14k)

 

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Bound Volume of IFRSs will be issued next month

18 Feb 2010

The IASB has announced that the Bound Volume of IFRSs for 2010 (the 'Red Book') will be published in March as a two-volume set.

This is the traditional Bound Volume that contains the latest versions of IFRSs and the supporting documents (illustrative examples, implementation guidance, bases for conclusions and dissenting opinions) as issued by the IASB at 1 January 2010, including those standards that become mandatory after 1 January 2010. In January, the Board published a version of the Bound Volume (the 'Blue Book') that contains only those pronouncements whose application is mandatory as of 1 January 2010. The main changes in the Red Book are the inclusion of:
  • one new standard: IFRS 9
  • one revised standard: IAS 24 (the 2003 version of IAS 24 that was superseded has been omitted – the superseded version can still be used for 2009 and 2010)
  • amendments to IFRSs that were issued as separate documents
  • amendments to IFRSs issued in the second annual improvements project
  • amendments to other IFRSs resulting from those revised or amended standards ('consequential amendments')
  • two new Interpretations: IFRICs 18 and 19
Because of the growing size of the contents, the 2010 Red Book is published in two parts:
  • Part A presents the unaccompanied IFRSs and their introductions and explanatory rubrics.
  • Part B contains the accompanying (non-mandatory) documents, such as bases for conclusions, implementation guidance, and illustrative examples.

 

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Notes from Feb 2010 IASB meeting day 3

18 Feb 2010

The IASB is holding its February 2010 monthly Board meeting at its offices in London on Monday to Friday, 15-19 February 2010.

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial Notes Taken by Deloitte Observers at the meeting.
Acknowledging that a comprehensive standard on rate-regulated activities may be delayed, the IASB agreed to amend IFRS 1 quickly so that a first-time adopter with rate-regulated operations will be permitted to elect to use the carrying amount of items of property, plant, and equipment held, or previously held, for use in such operations as their deemed cost at the date of transition to IFRSs. This proposal has already been exposed and will be added to the batch of Annual Improvements to IFRSs expected to be finalised in April 2010.

 

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IVSC guidance on valuing investment property

18 Feb 2010

The International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) has released a new Guidance Note (GN 17) 'The Valuation of Investment Property under Construction'.

The need for guidance when estimating the market value of investment property under construction was highlighted when the IASB amended IAS 40 Investment Property to require entities to disclose the fair value of investment property under construction.

Click for IVSC Press Release (PDF 23k). Guidance Note 17 itself may be downloaded from IVSC's Website.

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New EU Commissioner comments on accounting

18 Feb 2010

Michel Barnier, who took office last week as the European Commissioner responsible for Internal Market and Services, commented briefly on international accounting standards during a presentation to the Ecofin Council (the council of economic and finance ministers of EU Member states).

Mr Barnier's presentation was titled Acting Without Delay to Clean Up Financial Markets. Here is an excerpt:

One of the strongest conclusions of the G20 was the shared commitment to reform together and to ensure convergence of accounting standards at an international level. To this end, we need to find the right balance between a faithful representation of a company's financial situation and wider financial stability. This issue will be at the centre of our discussions in the coming months.

Click to Download Mr Barnier's Remarks (PDF 28k).

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