Website of the Month: Ernst & Young’s IFRS Resources

Emst & Young's (EY) IFRS website (http://www.ey.eom/U S/en/Issues/ IFRS) contains a wealth of free resources on current IFRS topics, available to both EY's clients and the general public. The website provides background information and practical guidance on recent developments; its target audience includes financial statement preparers, controllers, and audit committee members.

Information is organized according to current IFRS project topic, resource type, and industry sector. Materials (generally available as PDFs) range from short summaries, to webcasts, to detailed discussions with examples. Coverage of current and proposed standards includes revenue recognition, leases, financial instruments, consolidation, and insurance contracts. The "industry insights" section of the website provides IFRS resources targeted to key industry sectors.

FRS Core Tools Library

EY's IFRS "core tools" are resources designed to help users identify recent changes and begin assessing how to apply them. The toolbox includes IFRS updates, illustrative financial statements, industry-specific materials, and international GAAP disclosure checklists. The February 2013 IFRS update is divided into three sections: new pronouncements, topics under consideration but not currently scheduled for deliberation, and expected IASB pronouncements. The summaries of new pronouncements include key provisions, required transition to the new standard, EY's assessment of the impact, and a listing of related EY publications.

The August 2013 update uses a case study to illustrate consolidated financial statements. Illustrative financial statements are available for both interim and annual reporting periods, as well as for specific industries. The documents include a complete set of financial statements required under IFRS, notes to the consolidated financial statements, independent auditors' report, and appendices of alternate presentations. The financial statement resource includes introductory and explanatory information to assist users in following the examples provided. Three helpful charts- IFRS statements, IAS statements, and IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) interpretations-indicate which set of example financial statements covers each standard. Each statement presentation includes a commentary with individual line items referencing the underlying IFRS standardfor example, on the consolidated statement of profit or loss, IAS 33.66 is cited for earnings per share. The notes to the finan- cial statements similarly include standard references and explanations.

The international GAAP disclosure checklist can assist in financial statement presentations by showing the required and suggested disclosures, as well as summarizing IFRS guidance. The checklist addresses all elements of financial statement disclosure, including required statements, first-time adoption, and specific notes to the financial statements. The basic online checklist, free with registration, can be customized. (For online and PDF checklists, see http://www.ey.com/GL/en/ Issues/IFRS/IFRS-disclosure-checklists.)

The checklist identifies more than 500 disclosure requirements, which are numbered, labeled as "new" if applicable, and tied to the related IFRS standard. For example, under general requirements, the first disclosure checklist item comes from IAS 1.49 and asks whether "the financial statements [are] identified clearly (using an unambiguous title) and distinguished from other information in the same document." Under components of cash and cash equivalents, item 89 pertains to IAS 7.45 and asks whether "the entity disclose [s] the components of cash and cash equivalents." Item 107, under notes to the financial statements, complies with IAS 1.112 and asks whether "the notes to the financial statements disclose the basis of preparation of the financial statements."

Publications

IFRS Outlook. This bimonthly newsletter covers the activities of the IASB and IFRIC. The June 2013 issue discussed the adequacy of impairment disclosures, including a summary of a report issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). The report provided several recommendations for entities using discounted cash flows to test goodwill and intangible assets for impairment, including to disclose key assumptions and to specify discount rates ("Regulators' Concerns over Impairment Disclosures: How Entities Can Improve Their Compliance with IAS 36," p. 2). The March 2013 issue contained an interesting article on avoiding disclosure overload, which represents a good counterpoint to EY's disclosure checklist. The article, "Avoiding Disclosure Overload in Financial Statements-Improving Corporate Communication through Improved Disclosures," states that addressing disclosure overload does not necessarily infer reducing the number of disclosures, but rather focusing on the way the financial statements are presented overall (p. 6).

IFRS developments. This section of the website announces significant decisions and summarizes IASB and IFRIC discussion papers, exposure drafts, final standards, and interpretations in a high-level overview. A recent development from November 2013 (Issue 67) indicates that the IASB and FASB have concluded their redeliberations on revenue recognition. The boards reached tentative decisions on the assessment of customers' credit risk on collectability, the application of a constraint on variable consideration in determining transaction price, and accounting for licenses of intellectual property. Another development (detailed in Issue 69) discusses the follow-up to feedback received on the May 2013 lease accounting proposal. The boards indicated they will consider simplifying the proposal to address concerns regarding its scope, measurement provisions, disclosure requirements, and other matters.

Applying IFRS. This webpage provides more detailed information on proposals, standards, and interpretations, and it discusses how to apply the pronouncements. Publications are presented in a table that can be sorted by topic, title, industry sector, and date. One article, "Challenges in Adopting and Applying IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements," describes the consolidated reporting requirements. It covers exemption from the standard, the new definition of control, an investor's power to control, an investor's exposure to variable returns, the link between power and returns, consolidation procedures, disclosures, and other related topics. A variety of IFRS industry publications can also be found in the "other publications" section (http://www.ey. com/U S/en/Issues/IFRS/Issues_GL_IFRS_ NAV_Publications).

Other Resources

The IFRS versus local GAAP comparison guides provide an overview of the major similarities and differences between the two sets of standards. US GAAP versus IFRS: The Basics (available in webpage format or as a PDF) covers several issues, including required financial statements and statement format, consolidation, business combinations, inventory, longlived assets, and intangible assets. Longer discussions are provided on the hot topics of financial instruments, leases, and revenue recognition. Shorter comparisons address foreign currency, income taxes, and several other areas.

For users looking for a quick update, EY provides brief overview materials in the form of a pocket guide and an IASB/FASB joint project booklet (found in the "Overview of IFRS Projects" section). The pocket guide covers active projects with a table of timelines, a discussion of key developments and implications, and the status of amendments. The background, scope, key features, and transition information are briefly described for each project as well. The September 30, 2013, pocket guide-the most recent editionexamines various projects, such as financial instruments, leases, revenue, insurance contracts, and rate-regulated activities.

"Joint project watch" summarizes the current IASB/FASB joint projects from an IFRS perspective. Each topic includes background information, a timeline, previous key developments, next steps, and links to specific EY publications. Lists of previously completed and inactive joint projects are presented at the end of the publication, along with a summary timeline of active projects.

EY also offers a variety of "thought center" webcasts and podcasts. For those interested in international topics, the international tax talk quarterly series is available with free registration; live webcasts eligible for continuing professional education (CPE) credit are also available. The November tax talk presentation addressed tax reforms in Mexico, as well as tax regime changes in Ireland and Spain. EY's cross-border taxation podcasts are brief updates on the latest international tax-related news and can be downloaded or accessed online.

Susan B. Anders, PhD, CPA, is a professor of accounting at St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, N.Y.