1.1 International definition of an SME and difference between currently existing differential reporting regime in Australia
According to the IASB ED of a proposed IFRS for SMEs, the IASB’s definition of an SME is intended to (a) an entity with no public accountability and (b) an entity that publishes general purpose financial statements for external users. If entities fall under the definition of having a public accountability, as stated in paragraph 1.2 ED, they are not entitled to use the proposed IFRS for SMEs. The IASB’s definition of a public account-tability is not based on a size-threshold determination; rather it is the fact that an entity has issued equity or debt securities in a public market and thus has to lodge financial reports to external regulatory organisations or an entity holds assets in a fiduciary capacity for a broad group of outsiders. Furthermore, the criterion (b) of the international definition is basically a matter for each national jurisdiction to decide whether entities without public account-ability should be required to create general purpose financial statements.
In contrast, the currently existing Australian differential reporting regime is based on the ‘reporting entity concept’ which can be understood as the core element of the Australian financial reporting framework. That means, that one important factor in determining the applica¬bility of the accounting standards is the reporting entity concept. Reporting entities must, regardless of size and legal incorporation status, comply with full accounting stand-ards. In principle, small and large reporting entities are basically subject to the same financial reporting regime.
As the IASB ED will clearly not apply for listed entities, it is necessary to look at the Australian accounting requirements for unlisted (proprietary) entities and how these requirements differ to the international definition. Whether unlisted entities are subject to the accounting requirements of the Corporations Act 2001 depends on whether they are classified as small or large, thus a size-threshold test will be deployed. According to section 292 (2), 293 and 294 Corporations Act, small proprietary companies do not have to prepare and lodge financial reports unless there is a requirement from the ASIC, or they are directed by a 5% vote of their share¬holders, or they are controlled by a foreign company.
The IASB ED does not differentiate between for-profit and non-for-profit entities. There-fore, considering the current existing reporting requirements for SMEs in Australia and the international definition, there is a significant
Switching to IFRS will help not just companies but also investors and public globally to compare financial statements. If every country has different financial standards, if would be problematic to compare how each company stands because they are not the same.
The public company, JB Hi-Fi, is a reporting entity which is defined in SAC 1, as those that are expected to have users who depend on the entity’s general purpose financial reports for information that will be useful for making and evaluating decisions about the allocations of scarce resources. SAC 1 provides three main indicators to identify whether JB Hi-Fi Limited is a reporting entity. Firstly, the separation of management
What is IFRS, and what is its significance in the world market? In 2001 the International Accounting Standards Board, or IASB, was created to develop a set of standards by which global financial statuses could be reported. According to financialstabilityboard.org, this set of standards, known as the International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, falls under the jurisdiction of the IFRS Foundation, which is a non-profit, private and independently run entity that exists for the public interest, is based on four principle objectives. The first is to develop a single set of international financial reporting standards (IFRS). This set would be high in quality, readily understandable, easily enforceable, and acceptable world-wide. The second objective is to encourage the use of this set of standards in the international business world. Thirdly, the ISAB would like to monitor the needs of different sizes and types of businesses in different settings. The fourth objective is to promote the adoption of the IFRS by converging national accounting standards wit...
IFRS 1 requires companies to select IFRS accounting policies and apply those polices retrospectively to all periods presented in the IFRS financial statements. Assets and liabilities required under IFRS have to be recognized. For example, assets and liabilities under finance leases have to be recognized. Assets and liabilities that IFRS does not permit have to be derecognized. For example, deferred costs that do not meet the definition of an asset have to be derecognized. All assets and liabilities have to be reclassified in accordance with IFRS at the transition date. For example, debt issuance costs must be netted against the related financial liability. All assets and liabilities have to be measured in accordance with IFRS. ...
The need for expansion in global business is a necessity for big companies, and many Canadian companies are expanding their operation into overseas markets. This is a new challenge to the performance of high quality auditing, because new transaction will be made in these markets which are not necessarily follow Canadian GAAP standards for purpose of reporting. The auditors must ensure they understand business standards and regulatory that is applicable to entities that now form a part of consolidated financial statement. The auditors need to understand business structures which exist in foreign countries.
The New Zealand (NZ) Framework for Financial Reporting is in the process of changing since 2009, as a result of the review of the statutory reporting requirements in New Zealand by Ministry of Economic Development (MED) and the Accounting Standard Review Board (ASRB). The mainly recommendation was to remove small and medium sized companies from the statutory reporting framework (Ernst & Young, 2013, p.11). This New Zealand Framework for Financial Reporting 2010 (NZ Framework) was issued by the New Zealand Accounting Standards Board of the External Reporting Board (XRB) in 2011. The changes of framework pull open the NZ financial reporting standards that comprise NZ Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP) setting movement from ‘rule-based’ approach to ‘principle-based’ approach. Then comes to the question: Whether the application of NZ GAAP is supported positively by the NZ Framework with the appropriate underlying principles, or it preserved a largely ‘rule-driven’ approach? From my perspective, NZ Framework provides parts of applicable underlying principles in guidance of NZ GAAP but there are rooms for improvement.
Small businesses often feel the brunt of bad deals when it comes to corporate affairs. Unfair terms often result in smaller enterprises getting the short end of the stick. Thankfully, new laws are soon to be implemented in Australia that are geared towards tipping the scales in the favour of the small business. This post hopes to outline some of the main takeaways surrounding these changes to the law.
Private and public accounting has long been discussed and disputed in regards to financial reporting. Since the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was created in 1973, accountants have called for different accounting regulations for private and public accounting sectors, as private companies do not have the resources to meet the complex requirements of public companies. Private companies currently are not required by law to issue annual or quarterly financial statements (James, 2012). Private companies do, however, have the option to apply the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), cash basis, or accrual accounting to their financial statements (James, 2012).
According to the conceptual framework, the potential users of financial statements are investors, creditors, suppliers, employees, customers, governments and agencies, and the general public (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). The primary users are investors, creditors, and those who advise them. It goes on to define the criteria that make up each potential user, as well as, the limitations of financial reporting. The FASB explicitly states that financial reporting is “but one source of information needed by those who make investment, credit, and similar resource allocation decisions. Users also need to consider pertinent information from other sources, and be aware of the characteristics and limitations of the information in them” (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). With this in mind, it is still particularly difficult to determine whom the financials should be catered towards and what level of prudence is necessary for quality judgment.
Harris, J, Hargovan, A, & Adams, M, 2013, Australian Corporate Law, 4th ed, LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia
AASB, Australian Accounting Standards Board, Statement of Accounting Concepts SAC4 ‘Definition and recognition of the elements of financial stat
The greater part of finance demand from these enterprises is in the form of debt, estimated at about INR 26 trillion. Overall demand for equity in the SME sector is INR 6.5 trillion, which makes up 20 percent of the total demand. The sector has high leverage ratios with average debt-equity ratio of 4:1. But these leverage ratios are not even across the sector and variations exist based on the size of the enterprise. For instance medium-scale enterprises exhibit a more balanced debt-equity ratio of 2:1. The unregistered enterprises, which comprise 94 percent of the SME sector, account for INR 30 trillion of the finance demand. This demand estimate does not take into account the demand for finance by unorganized
The globalization of business has resulted in the need for compatible accounting standards that can be used internationally for financial reporting. As a result, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) were developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to unify the various financial reporting methods and create a single accounting standard which can be applied to any financial statement worldwide (Byatt). The global standardization of financial reporting will increase the readability and enhance comparability of globally traded companies’ financial statements, without the need of conversion or translation. There are a few main differences between the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S GAAP). The increasing recognition and acceptance of the International Financial Reporting Standards by accounting professionals in the United States, will affect the way in which the U.S will record financial statements in the future.
Increasingly, not-for-profit organisations have taken to emulating the moneymaking practices of corporations. This trend has three primary causes: the decrease in funding from the public sector, the increase in competition for funds among an expanding number of not-for-profit organisations and the rise in funder pressure for not-for-profit organisati...
The Financial Accounting Standards Boards (FASB) defined conceptual framework as a consistent of underlying concepts and the ideas that describe the nature and general purpose of financial reporting which may lead to consistent standard in accounting (Deegan 2010). The role of the conceptual framework is to ensure that financial statements in accounting are free from bias and to provide useful information that is useful for user’s decision making. The standard-setting board also formulated a range of perceptions and theories related to accounting to trigger the objectives of financial reporting. The standard-setting board keeps issuing the conceptual framework over time to ensure that the conceptual framework’s objectives are improving to provide useful financial information. The innovative work on conceptual framework was embraced in the United States by the FASB in the early 1970s. The FASB accomplished disappointment in attempting to generate a standard that at the outset might not appear to present, especially testing theoretical issues. Regardless, while attempting to achieve concession on Statement of Financial Accounting Standard, tending to the theoretical issues produced critical matter for the board members. In this manner, throughout the outset the FASB understood the requirement for an obvious conceptual framework. Based on Hines’s argument, the conceptual framework is mean to provide the ability to increase self-regulate of a profession in order to neutralizing government interference from arising. Whether this argument has been accepted or not will be discussed in more detail with supported evidence to clarify the main point about Hines’s argument. Further details about this argument will discuss below.