Accounting Alert

This Accounting Alert is issued to preparers of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) financial statements to provide a high-level awareness of recent changes to IFRS. The publication covers both new standards and interpretations that have been issued and amendments made to existing ones.

Introduction

The publication contains the list of all changes to IFRS and their effectivity dates. Such changes cover new standards, interpretations, and amendments to the following existing standards:

Effective from January 1, 2019:

• IFRS 16 - Leases
• Amendments to IFRS 9, Financial Instruments - Prepayments features with negative compensation
• Amendments to IAS 28, Investment in Associate and Joint Venture - Long-term interest in associates and joint venture
• IFRIC 23 - Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments
• Annual Improvements to IFRS 2015-2017 Cycle - Amendments to IAS 12, IAS 23, IFRS 3, and IFRS 11
• Amendments to IAS 19, Employee Benefits - Plan amendment, curtailment, or settlement

Effective from January 1, 2020:

• Conceptual framework for financial reporting
• Amendments to IFRS 3, Business Combination - Definition of a Business
• Amendments to IAS 1,Presentation of Financial Statements, and IAS 8, Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors - Definition of material
• Amendments IFRS 9, IAS 39, and IFRS 7 - Interest rate benchmark reform

Effective from June 1, 2020:

• Amendment to IFRS 16, Leases - COVID-19-Related rent concession

Effective from January 1, 2021:

• Amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39, IFRS 7, IFRS 4, and IFRS 16 - Interest rate benchmark reform phase 2

Effective from January 1, 2022:

• Narrow scope amendments to IFRS standards

Effective from January 1, 2023:

• IFRS 17, Insurance Contracts
• Amendments to IAS 1, Presentation of Financial Statements - classification of liabilities as current and non-current

Identifying the Changes that will Affect You

The effective dates table on the publication has been color-coded to help entities planning for a specific financial reporting year end, and identify:

• changes mandatorily effective for the first time;
• changes not yet effective; and,
• changes already in effect.

Where a change is not yet mandatorily effective for a particular year end, it may still be possible for an entity to adopt it early (depending on the requirements of the particular change in concern).

Where a change has been made but an entity is yet to apply it, certain disclosures are required to be made under IAS 8, Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors. Disclosure required include the fact that the new or amended standard or interpretation has been issued but it has not yet been applied, and known or reasonably estimable information relevant to assessing its possible impact on the financial statements in the period of initial application.

Identifying the Commercial Significance of the Changes in the Publication
For each change covered in the publication, we have included a box on its commercial implications. These sections focus on two sections:

• How many entities will be affected?
• What will be the impact on affected entities?

A traffic light system indicates the assessment of the answers to these questions.

See attached Accounting Alert for further details.