Gains and losses

Example accounting policies

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Example accounting policies

Get the requirements for properly disclosing the accounting policies to provide the users of your financial statements with useful financial data, in the common language prescribed in the world’s most widely used standards for financial reporting, the IFRS Standards. First there is a section providing guidance on what the requirements are, followed by a comprehensive example, easy to tailor to the specific needs of your company.Example accounting policies

Example accounting policies guidance

Whether to disclose an accounting policy

1. In deciding whether a particular accounting policy should be disclosed, management considers whether disclosure would assist users in understanding how transactions, other events and conditions are reflected in the reported financial performance and financial position. Disclosure of particular accounting policies is especially useful to users where those policies are selected from alternatives allowed in IFRS. [IAS 1.119]

2. Some IFRSs specifically require disclosure of particular accounting policies, including choices made by management between different policies they allow. For example, IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment requires disclosure of the measurement bases used for classes of property, plant and equipment and IFRS 3 Business Combinations requires disclosure of the measurement basis used for non-controlling interest acquired during the period.

3. In this guidance, policies are disclosed that are specific to the entity and relevant for an understanding of individual line items in the financial statements, together with the notes for those line items. Other, more general policies are disclosed in the note 25 in the example below. Where permitted by local requirements, entities could consider moving these non-entity-specific policies into an Appendix.

Change in accounting policy – new and revised accounting standards

4. Where an entity has changed any of its accounting policies, either as a result of a new or revised accounting standard or voluntarily, it must explain the change in its notes. Additional disclosures are required where a policy is changed retrospectively, see note 26 for further information. [IAS 8.28]

5. New or revised accounting standards and interpretations only need to be disclosed if they resulted in a change in accounting policy which had an impact in the current year or could impact on future periods. There is no need to disclose pronouncements that did not have any impact on the entity’s accounting policies and amounts recognised in the financial statements. [IAS 8.28]

6. For the purpose of this edition, it is assumed that RePort Co. PLC did not have to make any changes to its accounting policies, as it is not affected by the interest rate benchmark reforms, and the other amendments summarised in Appendix D are only clarifications that did not require any changes. However, this assumption will not necessarily apply to all entities. Where there has been a change in policy, this will need to be explained, see note 26 for further information.

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Employee benefits accounting policies

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Employee benefits accounting policies

This is a separated part of the example accounting policies, it is separated because of the size of this note and the specific nature of employee benefits.

Example accounting policies – Introduction

Get the requirements for properly disclosing the accounting policies to provide the users of your financial statements with useful financial data, in the common language prescribed in the world’s most widely used standards for financial reporting, the IFRS Standards. Here is a section providing guidance on what the requirements are, below a comprehensive example is provided, easy to tailor to the specific needs of your company.

Employee benefits Guidance

Presentation and measurement of annual leave obligations

RePort Plc has presented its obligation for accrued annual leave within current employee benefit obligations. However, it may be equally appropriate to present these amounts either as provisions (if the timing and/or amount of the future payments is uncertain, such that they satisfy the definition of ‘provision’ in IAS 37) or as other payables.

For measurement purposes, we have assumed that RePort Plc has both annual leave obligations that are classified as Employee benefits accounting policiesshort-term benefits and those that are classified as other long-term benefits under the principles in IAS 19. The appropriate treatment will depend on the individual facts and circumstances and the employment regulations in the respective countries.(IAS19(8),(BC16)-(BC21))

To be classified and measured as short-term benefits, the obligations must be expected to be settled wholly within 12 months after the end of the annual reporting period in which the employee has rendered the related services. The IASB has clarified that this must be assessed for the annual leave obligation as a whole and not on an employee-by-employee basis.

Share-based payments – expense recognition and grant date

Share-based payment expenses should be recognised over the period during which the employees provide the relevant services. This period may commence prior to the grant date. In this situation, the entity estimates the grant date fair value of the equity instruments for the purposes of recognising the services received during the period between service commencement date and grant date.(IFRS2(IG4))

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Borrowing costs – Q&A IAS 23

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Q&A Borrowing costs

Q&A Borrowing costs is a questions and answers lesson type of narrative following the captions of this rather simple IFRS Standard.

  1. General scope and definitions
  2. Borrowing costs eligible for capitalisation
  3. Foreign exchange differences
  4. Cessation of capitalisation
  5. Interaction IAS 23 and IFRS 15 Construction contracts with customers

General scope and definitions

1.1 A qualifying asset is an asset that ‘necessarily takes a substantial period of time to get ready for its intended use or sale’. Is there any bright line for determining the ‘substantial period of time’?

No. IAS 23 does not define ‘substantial period of time’. Management exercises judgement when determining which assets are qualifying assets, taking into account, among other factors, the nature of the asset. An asset that normally takes more than a year to be ready for use will usually be a qualifying asset. Once management chooses the criteria and type of assets, it applies this consistently to those types of asset.

Management discloses in the notes to the financial statements, when relevant, how the assessment was performed, which criteria were considered and which types of assets are subject to capitalisation of borrowing costs.

1.2 The IASB has amended the list of costs that can be included in borrowing costs, as part of its 2008 minor improvement project. Will this change anything in practice?

The amendment eliminates inconsistencies between interest expense as calculated under IAS 23 and IFRS 9. IAS 23 refers to the effective interest rate method as described in IFRS 9. The calculation includes fees, transaction costs and amortisation of discounts or premiums relating to borrowings. These components were already included in IAS 23. However, IAS 23 also referred to ‘ancillary costs’ and did not define this term.

This could have resulted in a different calculation of interest expense than under IFRS 9. No significant impact is expected from this change. Alignment of the definitions means that management only uses one method to calculate interest expense.

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Purchased and originated credit-impaired financial assets – IFRS 9 Best Read

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Purchased and originated credit-impaired financial assets

Purchased and originated credit-impaired financial assets are those for which one or more events that have a detrimental impact on the estimated future cash flows have already occurred. If these financial assets had been originated or purchased before becoming credit impaired, they would be in Stage 3 and lifetime expected losses would be recognised.

Purchased and originated credit-impaired financial assetsIndicators that an asset is credit-impaired would include observable data about the following events:

  • Significant financial difficulty of the issuer or the borrower
  • Breach of contract,
  • The lender has granted concessions as a result of the borrower’s financial difficulty which the lender would not otherwise consider,
  • It is becoming probable that the borrower will enter bankruptcy or other financial reorganisation,
  • The disappearance of an active market for that financial asset because of financial difficulties,
  • The financial asset is purchased or originated at a deep discount that reflects the incurred credit losses.

It may not be possible to identify a single discrete event. It could be the combined effect of several events may have caused financial assets to become credit-impaired.

Food for thought – Interaction between definitions of ‘credit-impaired’ and ‘default’
The definition of ‘credit-impaired’ under IFRS 9 may differ from the entity’s definition of ‘default’ (see explanation here). However, an entity’s definition of default should be consistent with its credit risk management, and should consider qualitative factors. For example, many financial institutions apply regulatory definitions of default for accounting and regulatory purposes – e.g. those issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision under which a default is considered to have occurred when it is unlikely that the obligor will be able to repay its obligation. The assessment of whether such a definition is met may be based on similar criteria to those used for assessing whether an asset is credit-impaired. In these cases, the asset would be considered to be in default when it is credit-impaired. (IFRS 9.5.5.37)

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Example Disclosure financial instruments

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Example Disclosure financial instruments

The guidance for this example disclosure financial instruments is found here.

7 Financial assets and financial liabilities

This note provides information about the group’s financial instruments, including:

  • an overview of all financial instruments held by the group
  • specific information about each type of financial instrument
  • accounting policies
  • information about determining the fair value of the instruments, including judgements and estimation uncertainty involved.

The group holds the following financial instruments: [IFRS 7.8]

Amounts in CU’000

Notes

2020

2019

Financial assets

Financial assets at amortised cost

– Trade receivables

7(a)

15,662

8,220

– Other financial assets at amortised cost

7(b)

4,598

3,471

– Cash and cash equivalents

7(e)

55,083

30,299

Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income (FVOCI)

7(c)

6,782

7,148

Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss (FVPL)

7(d)

13,690

11,895

Derivative financial instruments

– Used for hedging

12(a)

2,162

2,129

97,975

63,162
Example Disclosure financial instruments

Financial liabilities

Liabilities at amortised cost

– Trade and other payables1

7(f)

13,700

10,281

– Borrowings

7(g)

97,515

84,595

– Lease liabilities

8(b)

11,501

11,291

Derivative financial instruments

– Used for hedging

12(a)

766

777

– Held for trading at FVPL

12(a)

610

621

124,092

107,565

The group’s exposure to various risks associated with the financial instruments is discussed in note 12. The maximum exposure to credit risk at the end of the reporting period is the carrying amount of each class of financial assets mentioned above. [IFRS 7.36(a), IFRS 7.31, IFRS 7.34(c)]

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11 Best fair value measurements under IFRS 13

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11 Best fair value measurements under IFRS 13

Several IFRS standards provide guidance regarding the scope and application of the fair value option for assets and liabilities. Here they are from 1 to 11…….

1 Investments in associates and joint ventures

Investments held by venture capital organizations and the like are exempt from IAS 28’s requirements only when they are measured at fair value through profit or loss (FVPL) in accordance with IFRS 9. Changes in the fair value (FV) of such investments are recognized in profit or loss in the period of change.

The IASB acknowledged that FV information is often readily available in venture capital organizations and entities in similar industries, even for start-up and non-listed entities, as the methods and basis for fair value measurement are well established. The IASB also confirmed that the reference to well-established practice is to emphasize that the exemption applies generally to those investments for which fair value is readily available.

2 Intangible assets

Subsequent to initial recognition of intangible assets, an entity may adopt either the cost model or the revaluation model as its accounting policy. The policy should be applied to the whole of a class of intangible assets and not merely to individual assets within a class11 Best fair value measurements under IFRS 13, unless there is no active market for an individual asset.

The revaluation model may only be adopted if the intangible assets are traded in an active market; hence it is not frequently used. Further, the revaluation model may not be applied to intangible assets that have not previously been recognized as assets. For example, over the years an entity might have accumulated for nominal consideration a number of licenses of a kind that are traded on an active market. 11 Best fair value measurements under IFRS 13

The entity may not have recognized an intangible asset as the licenses were individually immaterial when acquired. If market prices for such licenses significantly increased, the value of the licenses held by the entity would substantially increase. In this case, the entity would be prohibited by IAS 38 from applying the revaluation model to the licenses, because they were not previously recognized as an asset.

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Excellent Study IFRS 9 Eligible Hedged items

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IFRS 9 Eligible Hedged items

the insured items of business risk exposures

Although the popular definition of hedging is an investment taken out to limit the risk of another investment, insurance is an example of a real-world hedge.

Every entity is exposed to business risks from its daily operations. Many of those risks have an impact on the cash flows or the value of assets and liabilities, and therefore, ultimately affect profit or loss. In order to manage these risk exposures, companies often enter into derivative contracts (or, less commonly, other financial instruments) to hedge them. Hedging can, therefore, be seen as a risk management activity in order to change an entity’s risk profile.

The idea of hedge accounting is to reduce (insure) this mismatch by changing either the measurement or (in the case of certain firm commitments) FRS 9 Eligible Hedged itemsrecognition of the hedged exposure, or the accounting for the hedging instrument.

The definition of a Hedged item

A hedged item is an asset, liability, firm commitment, highly probable forecast transaction or net investment in a foreign operation that

  1. exposes the entity to risk of changes in fair value or future cash flows and
  2. is designated as being hedged

The hedge item can be:

Only assets, liabilities, firm commitments and forecast transactions with an external party qualify for hedge accounting. As an exception, a hedge of the foreign currency risk of an intragroup monetary item qualifies for hedge accounting if that foreign currency risk affects consolidated profit or loss. In addition, the foreign currency risk of a highly probable forecast intragroup transaction would also qualify as a hedged item if that transaction affects consolidated profit or loss. These requirements are unchanged from IAS 39.

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1 Strong Read Determination of separable assets

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Determination of separable assets – Businesses are created to bring together diverse resources and generate synergies that will be realised in jointly produced cash flows. While businesses typically acquire assets separately, they realise benefits from them jointly. If no synergies were anticipated, there would be no point in bringing resources together in the first place. As a result, combinations of resources where synergies are believed to exist typically command a higher price when sold jointly than they would when sold separately. This creates a problem for example for the fair value and realisable value bases, which typically look at the amounts that could be realised from the disposal of separable assets. Consider the case of an item of plant that … Read more

IFRS 9 ECL Model best read – Impairment of investments and loans

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Impairment of investments and loans is about impairment in a ‘normal’ business not complicated accounting but straightforward accounting calculations. Normal operations Although the focus for IFRS 9 Financial Instruments is on financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies, ‘normal’ operating entities are also affected by IFRS 9. Maybe their investment and loan portfolios are less complex but in operating a business and as part of the internal credit risk management practice policy making it is still important to implement the impairment model under IFRS 9 Financial Instruments. The objective of these approaches to expected credit losses or timely recording of impairments/loss allowances is to provide approaches that result in a situation in which very different reporting entities all can … Read more

What Is Fintech reporting IFRS 15

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What Is Fintech or Financial Technology And Its Benefits?

New and fast-growing technologies like Financial Technology or Fintech have the potential benefits to collect and process data in real-time. This transforms how all businesses are working, how products and services are creating in the new economy, and how customers are engaging in this process. Every professional and commercial industry is affecting due by this change in workflows and business processes. The financial and economic sector is no exception.

Financial Technology or Fintech?

Fintech, short for Financial Technology, is a growing field and is now an economic revolution by the tech-savvy. It is the development of new technology to transform traditional institutions such as banks and insurance companies by uplift how they handle their finances and economic services. The process is not only digitizing money but also monetizing data to fit into the digitized world.

FinTech solutions have huge potential benefits for all businesses, especially new and existing small businesses. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are essential for economic maturity and employment. However, others may find it difficult to get the financing they need to survive and thrive.

Example

Automated drafting of portfolio management commentaries – Analytics & Reporting (October 2018, Societe Generale Securities Services)

Addventa Fintech exclusive partnership for automated drafting of portfolio management commentaries based on artificial intelligence solutions.

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