UN Working Group on International Standards and Reporting (ISAR)

At its annual meeting in Geneva on October 10-12, 2006, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards and Reporting (ISAR) reviewed the practical implementation issues of International Financial Reporting Standards and examined the relevance and comparability of existing indicators on corporate responsibility. A one-day workshop on fair value measurement requirements in IFRS was held on October 9. For more information, visit the website (Twenty-third session of ISAR, 10-12 October, 2006 ).

IASB website redesigned

The International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation and International Accounting Standards Board website has been redesigned to help users follow and participate in the international accounting standard-setting process. In its efforts to make meetings accessible to interested parties located throughout the world, the IASB continues to develop its webcasting service. Interested parties can now watch the meetings live or listen after the event to any particular project discussion. In addition, each project channel includes meeting summaries and observer notes for each month’s discussions. All of these additional services are available at no cost and have been developed to make the international accounting standard-setting process more open. For more information, read the press release at www.iasb.org.

IFRS and XBRL working together

It is noteworthy that 17 out of the 20 XBRL Jurisdictions in the world are IFRS-based (85%). They are Australia, Germany, IASB/IASC Foundation, Ireland, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, XBRL Europe, Belgium, Denmark, France, Poland, South Africa, Sweden and United Arab Emirates. Other XBRL Jurisdictions are Japan, Canada and the United States. Of these, Canada and the US are in the process of converging their GAAP with IFRS. To see how IFRS and XBRL work together, see the IASB Education Series. Also, Ernst & Young has prepared an IFRS Convergence demo that provides a walkthrough of how XBRL facilitates IFRS reporting.

Public companies and the move to international accounting

Over the next five years, public companies in Canada will move to financial reporting using IFRS. Bulletin #3 offers suggestions and a tentative timetable to manage the process as Canadian accounting standards go global. Further Bulletins will present more information on aspects of change involved in the transition to international financial reporting standards for publicly accountable enterprises and changes in the accounting standards for private companies and not-for-profit organizations. The series is available at www.acsbcanada.org.

IFRS Model Financial Statements

What would IFRS financial statements look like if they were to illustrate the typical presentation and disclosures required of a company preparing consolidated financial statements? Deloitte has prepared model financial statements to illustrate a UK company reporting for 2005, for the first time, under IFRS (for a first-time adopter, special rules apply under IFRS 1). Model financial statements have also been developed for existing preparers. To access these “models” and other useful checklists and questionnaires, see Deloitte’s IAS PLUS.