Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Continue to investigate the many implementation issues arising as entities adopt IFRS 9 (Financial
Instruments) and IFRS 15 (Revenue from Contracts with Customers).
Explore in more depth the complex implementation issues arising as entities adopt IFRS 16 (Leases).
Include an updated chapter on the new insurance contracts standard IFRS 17 (Insurance Contracts) which
reflects the recent Exposure Draft issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)
proposing various amendments to the standard. The chapter also covers the recent discussions of the
IASB’s Transition Resource Group on implementation issues raised. It also explores other matters arising
as insurers prepare for the adoption of the standard.
Discuss the new interpretations and agenda decisions issued by the IFRS Interpretations Committee since
the preparation of the 2019 edition.
Address the amended standards and the many other initiatives that are currently being discussed by the
IASB and the potential consequential changes to accounting requirements.
Provide insight on the many issues relating to the practical application of IFRS, based on the extensive
experience of the book’s authors in dealing with current issues.
The book is published in three volumes. The 56 chapters – listed on pages ix to xi – are split between the three
volumes as follows:
Each chapter includes a detailed list of contents and list of illustrative examples.
Each of the three volumes contains the following indexes covering all three volumes:
a general index.
Preface
The IASB reported, in 2018, that 144 of the 166 jurisdictions they have researched require the use of IFRS for all
or most domestic publicly accountable entities (listed companies and financial institutions) in their capital
markets, and a further 12 jurisdictions permit the use of IFRS. Several large economies such as China, India and
Japan do not require IFRS for all or most of their listed companies, but they have made considerable progress to
move towards or to converge with IFRS. The United States is the only major economy that is unlikely to allow
publicly listed domestic companies to apply IFRS in the near term.
Maintaining the current degree of international convergence of accounting standards requires an ongoing
commitment on the part of all jurisdictions involved. This cannot be taken for granted given the increasing desire
around the world to bring back control from the international to the national or regional level. In this context it is
positive to note, for example, that the Summary Report of the Public Consultation on the Fitness Check on the
EU framework for public reporting by companies found that ‘[a] majority of respondents supported the status quo
as regards the EU IFRS endorsement process, and cautioned against “EU carve-ins” that could lead to “EU-
IFRSs”, a situation that could be detrimental to EU companies active globally and to foreign investments into the
EU.’ However, there is a minority that argues in favour of the ability to selectively modify standards as they
believe this would increase the ability to influence the IASB’s standard-setting process. In our view, allowing
New standards
IFRS 9 – Financial Instruments – and IFRS 15 – Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which became
effective in 2018, have improved the quality of financial reporting, but their requirements are at times complex. In
the past two years, the IFRS Interpretations Committee has published more than a dozen agenda decisions on
these standards and, at the time of writing, are considering several more.
IFRS 16 – Leases is effective from 1 January 2019 and its interactions with other standards has given rise to a
number of challenging implementation questions that are now being addressed. The IASB has published an
exposure draft that deals with the application of IAS 12 – Income Taxes – to right-of-use assets and lease
liabilities, while the IFRS Interpretations Committee has published several agenda decisions on the application
of IFRS 16 and also its interaction with IFRS 11 – Joint Arrangements. While still early, it is clear that, for many
entities, IFRS 16 has a significant impact on the presentation of their statement of financial position and
statement of profit or loss.
IFRS 17 – Insurance Contracts was published in June 2017, with an effective date of 2021. The standard will
have a profound impact on the accounting for insurance contracts and is also expected to have a significant
operational impact on entities issuing those contracts. In June 2019, the IASB published an exposure draft with
proposed amendments to IFRS 17 in response to matters of concern regarding the concepts and practical
implementation of the standard that were raised by stakeholders, mainly from the European Union as part of its
IFRS endorsement process, but also from other regions. As IFRS 17 will affect many stakeholders, including
preparers, users, auditors and regulators, we agree with the IASB that a careful consideration of these concerns
was warranted and the proposal to defer the mandatory effective date of IFRS 17 to annual reporting periods
beginning on or after 1 January 2022.
While the IASB is starting to prepare for its 2020 Agenda Consultation, it is currently working on the projects in
its work plan for the period from 2017 until 2021. The work plan can be divided into three elements: the
standard-setting and maintenance projects, the research projects, and the Better Communication in Financial
Reporting initiative.
Constituents will welcome the fact that a period of relative calm has arrived once they have adopted IFRS 16;
the IASB’s standard-setting and maintenance agenda is not dominated by a series of ambitious and major new
As part of its active research agenda, the IASB’s core model for dynamic risk management is expected in late
2019, while the discussion papers on business combinations under common control, and goodwill and
impairment are now expected in 2020. The IASB has also received feedback on last year’s discussion paper on
financial instruments with characteristics of equity and is currently considering the future direction of the project.
We encourage the IASB to continue its work on these technically complex but important projects as they deal
with issues that have been the source of many accounting questions. In particular, any improvements and
simplifications that may follow from the project on goodwill and impairment would be appreciated by preparers,
users and auditors alike.
The IASB continues to work on the various aspects of its Better Communication in Financial Reporting initiative,
such as the primary financial statements, management commentary and the taxonomy. The project to update
the Management Commentary Practice Statement is especially important as the IASB sees this as the
cornerstone of the notion of ‘broader financial information’.
Erkki Liikanen, the Chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees, noted in a speech in January 2019 that ‘…we need to
ensure that IFRS Standards remain relevant in a changing world. IFRS is the de facto global standard in
financial reporting. However, investors are not only interested in the pure financial statements. They also want to
know about non-financial information – the company’s sustainability and environmental impact – what sort of
risks these companies face in the long term.’ Similarly, the Embankment Project for Inclusive Capitalism noted,
upon the release of its report to drive sustainable and inclusive growth, that ‘…a company’s value is increasingly
reflected not just in its short-term financial performance, but also by intangible assets such as intellectual
property, talent, brand and innovation, as well as impacts on society and the environment that are not fully
captured by traditional financial statements.’
Many of the non-financial issues that interest investors can be characterised as externalities, which are
commonly defined as consequences of an industrial or commercial activity that affect other parties without being
reflected in market prices. Legislators in some jurisdictions have already taken steps to ensure a minimum level
of communication about such issues. For example, the European Union Directive 2014/95/EU requires large
companies to publish reports on their policies regarding environmental protection, social responsibility and
treatment of employees, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery, and diversity on company boards.
In addition, there are a large number of corporate sustainable standards initiatives across many sectors.
In April 2019, Hans Hoogervorst, the Chairman of the IASB, noted in a speech on sustainability reporting that ‘In
an ideal world, there would be no need for sustainability reporting. Negative externalities, such as pollution,
This edition of International GAAP® covers the many interpretations, practices and solutions that have now been
developed based on our work with clients, and discussions with regulators, standard-setters and other
professionals. We believe that International GAAP®, now in its fifteenth edition, plays an important role in
ensuring consistent application and helping companies as they address emerging issues (e.g. interest rate
benchmark reform, application of IFRS 16 and implementation of IFRS 17). These issues are complex and give
rise to many practical questions about the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure requirements.
Our team of authors and reviewers hails from all parts of the world and includes not only our global technical
experts but also senior client-facing staff. This gives us an in-depth knowledge of practice in many different
countries and industry sectors, enabling us to go beyond mere recitation of the requirements of standards to
explaining their application in many varied situations.
We are deeply indebted to many of our colleagues within the global organisation of EY for their selfless
assistance and support in the publication of this book. It has been a truly international effort, with valuable
contributions from EY people around the globe.
Our thanks go particularly to those who reviewed, edited and assisted in the preparation of drafts, most notably:
Elisa Alfieri, John Alton, Danielle Austin, Mark Barton, Christian Baur, Paul Beswick, Silke Blaschke, Wan Yi
Cao, Larissa Clark, Tony Clifford, Angela Covic, Tai Danmola, Laney Doyle, Peter Gittens, Paul Hebditch, Guy
Jones, Steinar Kvifte, Michiel van der Lof, James Luke, Keri Madden, Fernando Marticorena, John Offenbacher,
John O’Grady, Christiana Panayidou, Pierre Phan van phi, George Prieksaitis, Gerard van Santen, Nicola
Our thanks also go to everyone who directly or indirectly contributed to the book’s creation, including the
following members of the Financial Reporting Group in the UK: Denise Brand, Lennart Hoogerwaard, Ayesha
Moosa and Mqondisi Ndlovu.
We also thank Jeremy Gugenheim for his assistance with the production technology throughout the period of
writing.
Lists of chapters
Volume 1
1 International GAAP
5 First-time adoption
9 Business combinations
12 Joint arrangements
15 Foreign exchange
16 Hyperinflation
17 Intangible assets
19 Investment property
22 Inventories
Volume 2
23 Leases
24 Government grants
30 Revenue: Recognition
33 Income taxes
34 Share-based payment
35 Employee benefits
36 Operating segments
42 Agriculture
43 Extractive industries
Volume 3
Abbreviations
APB Accounting Principles Board (of the AICPA, predecessor of the FASB)
EC European Commission
EU European Union
G4+1 The (now disbanded) group of four plus 1, actually with six members, that comprised an informal
‘think tank’ of staff from the standard setters from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and
USA, plus the IASC
G20 The Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
GPPC Global Public Policy Committee of the six largest accounting networks
IASC International Accounting Standards Committee. The former Board of the IASC was the
predecessor of the IASB
IFRIC The IFRS Interpretations Committee (formerly the International Financial Reporting
Interpretations Committee) of the IASB
IPTF International Practices Task Force (a task force of the SEC Regulations Committee)
SAC Standards Advisory Council, predecessor of the IFRS Advisory Council which provides advice to
the IASB on a wide range of issues
ASC Accounting Standards Codification®. The single source of authoritative US GAAP recognised by
the FASB, to be applied to non-governmental entities for interim and accounting periods ending
after 15 September 2009
CF Conceptual Framework
FAS Financial Accounting Standards (issued by the FASB). Superseded by Accounting Standards
Codification® (ASC)
FC Foreign currency
FVLCS Fair value less costs to sell (following the issue of IFRS 13, generally replaced by FVLCD)
GAAP Generally accepted accounting practice (as it applies under IFRS), or generally accepted
accounting principles (as it applies to the US)
IAS International Accounting Standard (issued by the former board of the IASC)
IGC Q&A Implementation guidance to the original version of IAS 39 (issued by the IGC)
JA Joint Arrangement
JO Joint Operation
JV Joint Venture
LC Local Currency
SE Structured Entity
SFAC Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts (issued by the FASB as part of its conceptual
framework project)
SFAS Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (issued by the FASB). Superseded by Accounting
Standards Codification® (ASC)
AG Application Guidance
AV Alternative View
DI Draft Interpretation
DO Dissenting Opinion
DP Discussion Paper
ED Exposure Draft
IG Implementation Guidance
The content of this book takes into account all accounting standards and other relevant rules issued up to
September 2019. Consequently, it covers the IASB’s Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting and
authoritative literature listed below.
References in the main text of each chapter to the pronouncements below are generally to the versions of those
pronouncements as approved and expected to be included in the Blue Book edition of the Bound Volume 2020
International Financial Reporting Standards – IFRS – Consolidated without early application – Official
pronouncements applicable on 1 January 2020, to be published by the IASB.
References to those pronouncements below which have an effective date after 1 January 2020 (such as
IFRS 17 – Insurance contracts) are to the versions of those pronouncements as denoted by the ISBN references
noted below. These are expected to be included in the Red Book edition of the Bound Volume 2020 International
Financial Reporting Standards – IFRS – Official pronouncements issued at 1 January 2020, to be published by
the IASB.
US GAAP accounting standards are organised within a comprehensive FASB Accounting Standards
Codification®, which is now the single source of authoritative US GAAP recognised by the FASB to be applied to
non-governmental entities and has been applied in this publication.
† The standards and interpretations marked with a dagger have been withdrawn or superseded.
IASB Framework
IFRS 16 Leases
IAS 2 Inventories
IAS 41 Agriculture
IFRIC 6 Liabilities arising from Participating in a Specific Market – Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment
IFRIC 7 Applying the Restatement Approach under IAS 29 Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary
Economies
IFRIC 14 IAS 19 – The Limit on a Defined Benefit Asset, Minimum Funding Requirements and their
Interaction
IFRIC 21 Levies
SIC-25 Income Taxes – Changes in the Tax Status of an Entity or its Shareholders
ED/2017/4 Property, Plant and Equipment – Proceeds before Intended Use (Proposed amendments to
IAS 16)
ED/2018/2 Onerous Contracts – Cost of Fulfilling a Contract (Proposed amendments to IAS 37)
ED/2019/5 Deferred Tax related to Assets and Liabilities arising from a Single Transaction (Proposed
amendments to IAS 12)
ED/2019/6 Disclosure of Accounting Policies (Proposed amendments to IAS 1 and IFRS Practice
Statement 2)
DP/2014/1 Accounting for Dynamic Risk Management: a Portfolio Revaluation Approach to Macro
IFRS for SMEs International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for Small and Medium-sized Entities
(SMEs)
PTU/2018/1 IFRS Taxonomy 2018 – Common Practice (IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement)