Reporting Issues in Relation to Endorsed IFRS and Possible Implications for the Audit Report
The IAS Regulation requires European listed companies to prepare consolidated financial statements from 2005 on the basis of international accounting standards, defined as those IFRS that have been endorsed by the European Commission. Both in the accounting policies and in the audit report, reference needs to be made to the applicable financial reporting framework; but selecting appropriate text for such a reference is not straightforward as endorsed IFRS may not necessarily be the same as (full) IFRS.
The following questions are considered in the paper:
– How should the financial reporting framework be referred to in the accounting policies in the notes to the financial statements?
– When the company also complies with full IFRS, should it refer to this fact?
– How should the framework be described in the audit report? Can there be a difference in description compared to the reference to the financial reporting framework in the accounting policies?
– Would the reference to the European financial reporting framework have a clear meaning outside the EU?
In addressing the various issues at stake and demonstrating their complexity, FEE seeks primarily to stimulate debate and questions in relation to these issues at European and global level. Whilst the Discussion Paper may provide some form of interim guidance, by collecting views of respondents FEE seeks to assess whether a consensus can be achieved.