General Presentation and Disclosures- Draft IFRS Standards

Dear Professional Colleagues,

Sub:    Exposure Draft of IFRS Standards issued by the IASB for comments

Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) are based on the IFRS issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) of IFRS Foundation. The IASB, before issuing the new/amendments to IFRS Standards, issues the Exposure Draft (ED) for public comments across the globe. The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) of ICAI with the aim to provide an opportunity to the various stakeholders in India to raise their concerns at the initial International Standard-setting stage (ED stage) itself, invites comments on the ED issued by the IASB. It also helps the Indian stakeholders to be aware of the preparations required for implementation of Ind AS in line with adhering to global timelines. At present, following ED issued by IASB is open for comments:

• General Presentation and Disclosures

Through this ED, the IASB has proposed improvements to the way information is communicated in the financial statements, with a focus on financial performance. The IASB is also proposing limited changes to the statement of cash flows and the statement of financial position. The ED requires companies to:

• Present 3 new defined subtotals in the statement of profit or loss, including an operating profit subtotal;
• Disaggregate information in a better way for investors to help them analyse companies’ earnings and forecast future cash flows, eg  identification and explanation in the notes wrt any unusual income or expenses; and
• Disclose information about management performance measures (‘non-GAAP’ measures) eg disclosure of subtotals of income and expenses that are not specified in IFRS Standards—in a single note to the financial statements with explanation as to how they are calculated and to provide a reconciliation to the most comparable profit subtotal specified by IFRS Standards.

The IASB proposes to issue a new IFRS Standard, replacing IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements, and seek responses to 14 specific questions identified in the ED.

In order to enable Indian entities to derive benefits of globally acceptable framework, it is needed to remain IFRS-converged, and therefore, consequential change in Ind AS 1, Presentation of Financial Statements will be made in Indian Context.

In view of criticality of the topic, the ASB of ICAI also proposes to organise Outreach programmes across different locations (further details to be announced in due course) to gather views on the above ED. We would be looking forward for your close involvement and active participation in responding to the IASB.

The above mentioned ED is hosted on the website of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India for public comments with last date as March 20, 2020 that may be accessed at the following link:

https://www.icai.org/post.html?post_id=3321

Comments on the abovementioned ED may be submitted through any of the following modes:

Further clarifications on this ED may be sought by e-mail to asb@icai.in.