Comparability

Comparability – An enhancing qualitative characteristic that enables users to identify and understand similarities in, and differences among, items. The Conceptual Framework provides the following guidance [Conceptual Framework 2.24 – 2.29]: Users’ decisions involve choosing between alternatives, for example, selling or holding an investment, or investing in one reporting entity or another. Consequently, information about a reporting entity is more useful if it can be compared with similar information about other entities and with similar information about the same entity for another period or another date. Comparing Financial Statements between companies is the qualitative characteristic that enables users to identify and understand similarities in, and differences among, items. Unlike the other qualitative characteristics, comparability does not relate to a single … Read more

Combined financial statements

Combined financial statements: The combination of two or more legal entities or businesses that may or may not be part of the same group, but do not by themselves meet the definition of a group under IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements – i.e. a parent and all of its subsidiaries. At a simplistic level, preparing combined financial statements involves adding together two or more legal entities and eliminating any inter-company transactions – e.g. intercompany profits, revenue and expenses, receivables and payables and equity (e.g. unrealised gains and losses).

Identified asset – 2 Complete with comprehensive examples

Identified asset

a term from IFRS 16 Leases. Let’s see what it is all about….

A lease is a contract, or part of a contract, that conveys the right to use an asset (the underlying asset) for a period of time in exchange for consideration.

The key factors to consider when applying the lease definition are as follows.

Identified asset

1. Specified asset

An asset can be either explicitly specified in a contract (e.g. by a serial number or a specified floor of a building) or implicitly specified at the time it is made available for use by the customer. (IFRS 16.B13, IFRS 16.BC111)

Food for thought – What does ‘implicitly specified’ mean?

An asset is implicitly specified if the facts and circumstances indicate that the supplier can fulfil its obligations only by using a specific asset. This may be the case if the supplier has only one asset that can fulfil the contract. For example, a power plant may be an implicitly specified asset in a power purchase contract if the customer’s facility is in a remote location with no access to the grid, such that the supplier cannot buy the required energy in the market or generate it from an alternative power plant.

In other cases, an asset may be implicitly specified if the supplier owns a number of assets with the required functionality, but only one of those assets can realistically be supplied to the customer within the contracted time-frame – i.e. the supplier does not have a substantive right to substitute an alternative asset to fulfil the contract – see 3.3. For example, a supplier may own a fleet of vessels but only one vessel that is in the required geographic area and not already being used by other customers.

1.1 Capacity portions

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Leases explained along defined terms

Lease – a contract, or part of a contract, that conveys the right to use an asset (the underlying asset) for a period of time in exchange for consideration.