IFRS Defintions

Date of transition to IFRSs – The beginning of the earliest period for which an entity presents full comparative information under IFRSs in its first IFRS financial statements.

An entity with decision-making rights that is either a principal or an agent for other parties.

Temporary differences between the carrying amount of an asset or liability in the statement of financial position and its tax base that will result in amounts that are deductible in determining taxable profit (tax loss) of future periods when the carrying amount of the asset or liability is recovered or settled.

Deemed cost – An amount used as a surrogate for cost or depreciated cost at a given date. Subsequent depreciation or amortisation assumes that the entity had initially recognised the asset or liability at the given date and that its cost was equal to the deemed cost.

Deferred tax assets are the amounts of income taxes recoverable in future periods in respect of:

1. deductible temporary differences;
2. the carry forward of unused tax losses; and
3. the carry forward of unused tax credits.

Deferred tax liabilities are the amounts of income taxes payable in future periods in respect of taxable temporary differences.

Deficit or surplus of defined benefit liability (asset) – Definitions relating to the net defined benefit liability (asset)

The deficit or surplus is:
(a) the present value of the defined benefit obligation less
(b) the fair value of plan assets (if any).

Defined benefit plans are post-employment benefit plans other than defined contribution plans. (IAS 19 8)

OR

Retirement benefit plans under which amounts to be paid as retirement benefits are determined by reference to a formula usually based on employees’ earnings and/or years of service. (IAS 26 8)

Defined contribution plans are post-employment benefit plans under which an entity pays fixed contributions into a separate entity (a fund) and will have no legal or constructive obligation to pay further contributions if the fund does not hold sufficient assets to pay all employee benefits relating to employee service in the current and prior periods.

Depreciable amount is the cost of an asset, or other amount substituted for cost, less its residual value.

Depreciation (Amortisation) is the systematic allocation of the depreciable amount of an asset over its useful life¹.

1 In the case of an intangible asset, the term ‘amortisation’ is generally used instead of ‘depreciation’. The two terms have the same meaning.

OR

Depreciation is the systematic allocation of the depreciable amount of an asset over its useful life.

The removal of a previously recognised financial asset or financial liability from an entity’s statement of financial position.

A financial instrument or other contract within the scope of this Standard (editor: IFRS 9) with all three of the following characteristics.

1. its value changes in response to the change in a specified interest rate, financial instrument price, commodity price, foreign exchange rate, index of prices or rates, credit rating or credit index, or other variable, provided in the case of a non-financial variable that the variable is not specific to a party to the contract (sometimes called the ‘underlying’).
2. it requires no initial net investment or an initial net investment that is smaller than would be required for other types of contracts that would be expected to have a similar response to changes in market factors.
3. it is settled

Development is the application of research findings or other knowledge to a plan or design for the production of new or substantially improved materials, devices, products, processes, systems or services before the start of commercial production or use.

Dilution is a reduction in earnings per share or an increase in loss per share resulting from the assumption that convertible instruments are converted, that options or warrants are exercised, or that ordinary shares are issued upon the satisfaction of specified conditions.

A component of an entity that either has been disposed of or is classified as held for sale and:

1. represents a separate major line of business or geographical area of operations,
2. is part of a single co-ordinated plan to dispose of a separate major line of business or geographical area of operations or
3. is a subsidiary acquired exclusively with a view to resale.

A group of assets to be disposed of, by sale or otherwise, together as a group in a single transaction, and liabilities directly associated with those assets that will be transferred in the transaction. The group includes goodwill acquired in a business combination if the group is a cash-generating unit to which goodwill has been allocated in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs 80–87 of IAS 36 Impairment of Assets (as revised in 2004) or if it is an operation within such a cash-generating unit.

A financial instrument containing a clause that prohibits the issuer from making any distributions unless a dividend is declared in relation to another instrument.

Distributions of profits to holders of equity instruments in proportion to their holdings of a particular class of capital.