The AcSB Offers Guidance on Disclosure Timing of Revised and New IFRSs

The AcSB has released proposals for amending the CICA Handbook preface for the purpose of clarifying the supremacy for finance related reporting needs in Canada as well as the basis on which the International Financial Reporting Standards have been incorporated in Canada’s Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

The amendments that have been proposed determine whether the companies can consider adopting pronouncements that have been released by the International Accounting Standards Board before being incorporated into Canada’s GAAP and the manner in which disclosure related requirements of the International Accounting Standard 8 must be applied with reference to an endorsement establishment.

The proposals will also provide clarifications that the amended, revised and new IFRSs released by the IASB are very much a part of Canada’s GAAP, once they get approval from the Accounting Standards Board of Canada. This implies that the companies that report as per Canada’s GAAP can’t consider adoption of any of the pronouncements of the IASB till the time this procedure occurs.

The material that accompanies the proposed amendments observes that the paragraph no. 30 of the International Accounting Standard 8 (Accounting Policies-Change in Estimates and Errors) has already become a part of Canada’s GAAP. This particular paragraph needs disclosure of amended or new IFRS released by the IASB but is yet to be applied, irrespective of whether the Accounting Standards Board of Canada has included the alterations in the CICA Handbook or not.

Thus, if Canadian companies intend to create an unreserved compliance statement with International Financial Reporting Standards, then they will have to incorporate disclosures as per International Accounting Standards 8 regarding pronouncements that have been made by the International Accounting Standard Board that is yet to be adopted by the Accounting Standards Board of Canada and included in Canada’s GAAP.

The Accounting Standards Board of Canada has also discussed the problems being faced by certain companies when it comes to meeting such needs. For example, the Accounting Standards Board of Canada needs to include alterations in the CICA Handbook in both French and English and the board has admitted that the amended or new IFRSs, which are yet to be translated, are not available for the stakeholders of francophone and thus they will not be able to develop the disclosures that are needed.