Paragraphs 1.2-1.4 of the IASB’s Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting are written so densely that some people do not succeed in unpacking what they say. To make unpacking the meaning of those paragraphs easier, the IASB staff recommended in 2017 that the IASB should add a flowchart to the Conceptual Framework. This post summarises the… Continue reading Help for unpacking the objective of financial reporting
Tag: Drafting
Saying how likely something is: way forward
IFRS standards use too many different terms to say how likely it is that an event will occur. And different people using IFRS Standards interpret those terms in different ways. Those clear messages appeared in a research report issued in 2016 by the Korea Accounting Standards Board (KASB) and Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB). I… Continue reading Saying how likely something is: way forward
Those mushrooming effective date paragraphs
The IASB has a problem with effective date paragraphs. There are far too many of them and their number keeps growing. I believe it is time to find a better approach to writing these paragraphs. What does the IASB do now? When the IASB amends a standard, it also adds to that standard a paragraph… Continue reading Those mushrooming effective date paragraphs
Saying how likely something is
IFRS standards use too many different terms to describe how likely it is that an event will occur. That is a clear conclusion of KASB Research Report No. 39 / AASB Research Report No. 2 Accounting Judgements on Terms of Likelihood in IFRS: Korea and Australia, issued in 2016 by the Korea Accounting Standards Board… Continue reading Saying how likely something is
Equity is not a residual
People often describe equity as a residual. That description is not fully accurate and may mislead people. There are probably three reasons why some people use that description: the definition of equity includes the word residual. the total amount of reported equity is measured as a residual. the pre-2018 version of the IASB’s Conceptual Framework… Continue reading Equity is not a residual
If, and only if…
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) sometimes writes requirements in the form ‘if A is the case, an entity shall do B’. But in other places it writes such requirements in the form ‘if, and only if, A is the case, an entity shall do B’. Are those two forms intended to have different meanings?… Continue reading If, and only if…
All disclosure requirements belong in one standard
Disclosure requirements in IFRS Standards are distributed throughout almost all of the standards. In my view, the IASB should consolidate all its disclosure requirements into one location in one standard. I explain that view in a comment letter I have submitted on the IASB’s exposure draft Disclosure Requirements in IFRS Standards—A Pilot Approach. My response… Continue reading All disclosure requirements belong in one standard