Wiley IFRS 2017

Interpretation and Application of IFRS Standards

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781119340249
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Accounting Standards
• Index: Business

The one-stop resource for IFRS interpretation and application, updated for 2017

Wiley IFRS 2017 offers a complete resource for the interpretation and application of the latest International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as outlined by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). With up-to-date coverage and a host of practical tools, this book provides invaluable guidance on the expanding framework for unified financial reporting. Organised for easy navigation, each chapter includes general statement information followed by topic-specific discussion to facilitate both quick-reference and in-depth study. The expert team at PKF International provides authoritative insight from a practitioner's perspective: IFRIC interpretations and practical real-world guidance ensure full understanding of the newest standards, and the Disclosure Checklist helps verify compliance.

The IASB's efforts are paying off as more and more countries around the globe either adopt IFRS as their national standards, or adjust local standards in alignment. A working understanding of IFRS application is becoming essential, even as the rules continue to evolve. This book provides full coverage of the latest standards and thorough guidance for implementation.

• Review the latest IFRS rules and standards
• Apply guidelines and best practices appropriately
• Gain expert insight on IFRS interpretation and implementation
• Ensure compliance and verify completeness

Uniform financial reporting reduces the costs of financial statement preparation for multinational companies, and streamlines the assessment of business results. As the standards themselves evolve, so must practitioners' understanding of how to apply them correctly in real-world cases. Wiley IFRS 2017 offers a complete, up-to-date reference to help you apply and comply with the latest international standards.

1
Introduction to International Financial Reporting Standards

1. Introduction
2. Origins and Early History of the IASB
3. The Current Structure
4. Process of IFRS Standard Setting
5. Convergence: The IASB and Financial Reporting in the US
6. The IASB and Europe
7. Appendix A: Current International Financial Reporting Standards (IAS/IFRS) and Interpretations (SIC/IFRIC)
8. Appendix B: Projects Completed Since Previous Issue (July 2015 to June 2016)
9. Appendix C: IFRS for SMEs
   1. Definition of SMEs
   2. IFRS for SMEs is a Complete, Self-Contained Set of Requirements
   3. Modifications of Full IFRS Made for IFRS for SMEs
   4. Disclosure Requirements under IFRS for SMEs
   5. Maintenance of the IFRS for SMEs
   6. SME Implementation Group
   7. Implications of the IFRS for SMEs
   8. Application of the IFRS for SMEs

Introduction

The stated objective of the IFRS Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is to develop a single set of high-quality, understandable, enforceable and globally accepted financial reporting standards based upon clearly articulated principles.

The impetus for the convergence of historically disparate financial reporting standards has been, in the main, to facilitate the free flow of capital so that, for example, investors in the US would become more willing to finance business in, say, China or the Czech Republic. Access to financial statements which are written in the same “language” would help to eliminate a major impediment to engendering investor confidence, sometimes referred to as “accounting risk,” which adds to the more tangible risks of making such cross-border investments. Additionally, permission to list a company's equity or debt securities on an exchange has generally been conditional on making filings with national regulatory authorities, which tend to insist either on conformity with local GAAP or on a formal reconciliation to local GAAP. These procedures are tedious and time-consuming, and the human resources and technical knowledge to carry them out are not always widely available, leading many would-be registrants to forgo the opportunity of broadening their investor bases and potentially lowering their costs of capital.

There were once scores of unique sets of financial reporting standards among the more developed nations (“national GAAP”). The year 2005 marked the beginning of a new era in the global conduct of business, and the fulfilment of a 30-year effort to create the financial reporting rules for a worldwide capital market. During that year's financial reporting cycle, the 27 European Union (EU) member states plus many other countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Since then, many countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, Korea, Canada, Mexico and Russia have adopted IFRS. Indeed at the time of writing more than 100 countries now require or permit the use of IFRS. China has moved its national standards significantly towards IFRS. All other major economies, such as Japan and the United States, have either moved towards IFRS in recent years or established time lines for convergence or adoption in the near future.

2007 and 2008 proved to be watershed years for the growing acceptability of IFRS. In 2007, one of the most important developments was that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped the reconciliation (to US GAAP) requirement, which had formerly applied to foreign private registrants. Since then, those reporting in a manner fully compliant with IFRS (i.e., without any exceptions to the complete set of standards imposed by IASB) have been required to reconcile net income and shareholders' equity to the amounts which would have been presented under US GAAP. In effect, the SEC was acknowledging that IFRS was fully acceptable as a basis for accurate, transparent, meaningful financial reporting.

This easing of US registration requirements for foreign companies seeking to enjoy the benefits of listing their equity or debt securities in the US led understandably to a call by domestic companies to permit them also to choose freely between financial reporting under US GAAP and IFRS. By late 2008 the SEC appeared to have begun the process of acquiescence, first for the largest companies in those industries having (worldwide) the preponderance of IFRS adopters, and later for all publicly held companies. However, a new SEC chair took office in 2009, expressing a concern that the move to IFRS, if it were to occur, should perhaps take place more slowly than had previously been indicated.

It had been highly probable that non-publicly held US entities would have remained restricted to US GAAP for the foreseeable future, both from habit and because no other set of standards would be viewed as being acceptable. However, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which oversees the private-sector auditing profession's standards in the US, amended its rules in 2008 to fully recognise IASB as an accounting standard-setting body (giving it equal status with the FASB), meaning that auditors and other service providers in the US could now issue opinions (or provide other levels of assurance, as specified under pertinent guidelines) which affirmed that IFRS-based financial statements conformed with “generally accepted accounting principles.” This change, coupled with the promulgation by IASB of a long-sought standard providing simplified financial reporting rules for privately held entities (described later in this chapter), might be seen as increasing the likelihood that a more broadly-based move to IFRS will occur in the US over the coming years.

The historic 2002 Norwalk Agreement—between the US standard setter, FASB, and the IASB—called for “convergence” of the respective sets of standards, and indeed a number of revisions of either US GAAP or IFRS have already taken place to implement this commitment. The aim of the Boards was to complete the milestone projects of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the end of June 2011.

Despite this commitment by the Boards, certain projects such as financial instruments (impairment and hedge accounting), revenue recognition, leases and insurance contracts were deferred due to their complexity and the difficulty in reaching consensus views. The converged standard on revenue recognition was finally published in May 2014, although both Boards have subsequently deferred its effective date. Details of these and other projects of the standard setters are included in a separate section in each relevant chapter of this book.

Despite the progress towards convergence described above, the SEC dealt a blow to hopes of future alignment in its strategic plan published in February 2014. The document states that the SEC “will consider, among other things, whether a single set of high-quality global accounting standards is achievable,” which is a significant reduction in its previously expressed commitment to a single set of global standards. This leaves IFRS and US GAAP as the two comprehensive financial reporting frameworks in the world, with IFRS gaining more and more momentum.

The MoU with FASB (and with other international organisations and also jurisdictional authorities) has been replaced by a MoU with the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF). The ASAF is an advisory group to the IASB, which was set up in 2013. It consists of national standard setters and regional bodies with an interest in financial reporting. Its objective is to provide an advisory forum where members can constructively contribute towards the achievement of the IASB's goal of developing globally accepted high-quality accounting standards. FASB's involvement with the IASB is now through ASAF.

Origins and Early History of the IASB

Financial reporting in the developed world evolved from two broad models, whose objectives were somewhat different. The earliest systematised form of accounting regulation developed in continental Europe in 1673. Here a requirement for an annual fair value statement of financial position was introduced by the government as a means of protecting the economy from bankruptcies. This form of accounting at the initiative of the state to control economic participants was copied by other states and later incorporated in the 1807 Napoleonic Commercial Code. This method of regulating the economy expanded rapidly throughout continental Europe, partly through Napoleon's efforts and partly through a willingness on the part of European regulators to borrow ideas from each other. This “code law” family of reporting practices was much developed by Germany after its 1870 unification, with the emphasis moving away from market values to historical cost and systematic depreciation. It was used later by governments as the basis of tax assessment when taxes on business profits started to be introduced, mostly in the early twentieth century.

This model of accounting serves primarily as a means of moderating relationships between the individual entity and the state. It serves for tax assessment, and to limit dividend payments, and it is also a ...