Beginners Guide To International Financial Standards

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The world has been constantly moving to the single set of global accounting rules. There is a strong ambition to adopt IFRS as a unified set of financial reporting standards all over the planet by 2015. So yes, I understand that accountants and other finance people need to gain at least some degree of IFRS knowledge, since they might face IFRS directly in their job. Maybe it’s also your case. Now, how to learn IFRS? Where to start?

Well, it depends. First, you should ask yourself at least the following questions:.

Beginners Guide To International Financial Standards

What is your current knowledge of IFRS? Or have you already acquired some base?.

What is your purpose of learning IFRS? How deep knowledge would you like to possess? Do you want to obtain some certificate or “offcial” qualification or just learn it to be able to deal with it in your job?. What is your budget for learning IFRS? Do you want to keep it free or with minimal financial cost?

Or you have a quite generous budget for this?. How much time are you able or willing to dedicate to your IFRS training? Are you very busy guy and have only evenings / weekends? Or can you afford to skip some days from your daily job and visit classes? Limited Time Offer: If you want to learn IFRS in less than 24 hours, please check out our course IFRS In 1 Day.

It is a package of 102-page e-book, 10 private video tutorials, 8 summary videos and 10 IFRS case studies solved in Excel. If you take action today and subscribe for IFRS In 1 Day, you’ll get it at a 30% discount! Yes, all this matters, because there are many options what and how to do. So let’s say you are an accountant or financial guy with solid accounting base, but IFRS is something you have heard of but never really touched. There is a certain path to follow no matters tools you chose.

Being me in your shoes, I would start my IFRS learning as a step-by-step process:. Learn the basic structure of IFRS. Read the Framework. Get some knowledge about individual standards. Develop your knowledge and be up-to-date So let’s start with the first one.

Learn the basic structure of IFRS Familiarize yourself with the basic structure and concept of IFRS. This is not a hard part. To start digging a bit deeper into this complex topic, you should know what is in front of you. Let me draft a simple picture. IFRS is an acronym for International Financial Reporting Standards and covers full set of principles and rules on accounting treatment of various items or situations. This full set comprises the following components:. Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements.

International Accounting Standards ( IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards ( IFRS). Standing Interpretations Committee ( SIC) and Interpretations originated from the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee ( IFRIC) 2. Read the Framework For any beginner in IFRS, the Framework is the basic concept of IFRS and therefore it is a MUST READ document. Anyway, it’s not so time consuming, as the Framework itself has only about 30 pages and as an experienced accounting professional you would be familiar with many concepts in it. You can find full text of the Framework in. Get some knowledge about individual standards Now while you can read the Framework yourself without any pain, it’s almost impossible and ineffective to read and study the texts of individual standards, interpretations and accompanying docs – it’s more than 3 000 pages! There are many possibilities how to learn basic principles and rules in individual standards.

You might want to pick one of them based on your time and budget available. In my opinion, 2 main streams of learning IFRS are face-to-face training and self-study. Face-to-face training What I mean by saying “face-to-face” is attending a classic form of the study: long-term courses in the class, short-term seminars or workshops, etc. This should work wonderfully – I learned most of my IFRS basics this way.

Let me just sum up pros and cons of face-to-face training: Pros:. learning from experienced tutor with personal contact. high level of interactivity – you might ask for additional explanations or any questions you don’t understand and often you get a feedback from your tutor.

full focus on the topic – when you attend a lecture, you will not be distracted by so many things around you (like 5 minutes for coffee, 5 minutes for “very tiny help” to your colleague or family member) and therefore, your study will be very effective. Cons:. high costs – if you’d like to attend really high-quality training, you will pay for it – oh yeah.

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I remember that the cost of my 6-day course on IFRS was about 4 000 EUR. Of course, tutor and topics covered were wonderful, however, if cost is something that bothers you, then check out other forms of training. time consuming – face-to-face training usually takes place during your normal working or business hours and you must find a space in your overloaded schedule.

That might be a problem, especially during a high or busy season. inconvenient – you might also suffer from certain form of inconvenience. Often, you have to travel to the location that is far far away from your office or home.

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Or, you might feel distracted by other attendants in the class. In the second part of this article, I will give you some hints how to effectively learn IFRS by self-study and what good sources you could use in order to stay up to date with the newest developments.

Want to dive deeper into IFRS? I’ve created the free report “Top 7 IFRS mistakes that you should avoid”. Sign up for email updates, right here, and you’ll get this report as well as 3 free important chapters from my course IFRS In 1 Day.

Silvia, God sees my mind that i have myriad of thoughts on my mind and each one jostle for prominence. Top the list i hear u ask?

Why on earth is she doing this? Do we really still have selfless people like you in dis animal called life where we constantly run to chase today? I have gone through this site and van not help but bless the Name of God as each second passes by, that i stumbled on your profile on linkedn. Let me tell u, people like u are vert rare but where found you constitute the salt to pple careers. Thanks and God bless u real good.

Opeyemi from Nigeria. Dear Elisha, interesting question. Well, CIMA is a different qualification from ACCA.

They are provided by 2 different organizations. I haven’t done CIMA, but I have done ACCA and I can only recommend it – it’s really well known in the world.CIMA is for management accountants, ACCA is more for financial reporting and accountants. As fod Diploma in IFRS – it’s done by ACCA and you can do it first, it’s actually a good idea as you will be certified when starting ACCA. Remember, ACCA is a membership and once you finish your studies, you will pay an annual membership fee. I think you should browse the web as many people ask the same question. Hi Silvia Learned lot of things from you from your website, I have one question, will appreciate if you can assist on the same: The developer X has entered into an property development agreement with another company Y who owns the land to CONSTRUCT THE BUILDING ON THE LAND and in return the Developer has agreed to pay the consideration of AED 50 million and 50 fully paid apartments in the building on completion of the project to Y. On completion of the project the land will be automatically transfered to the unit owners as per Joint Property law in the country.

The project is in pipeline and all the construction cost is being capitalaised under Property Under Developement for sales. How to account for land cost of the project in the books of Developer which includes AED 50 million + 50 units which are yet to be constructed. Thanks for your time and consideration.

History and development Our timeline highlights some of the most significant dates in the history of international accounting standards. It covers the period from the 1960s to 2005 when listed companies in the UK were required to present their financial statements using international standards. Please note it is not intended to be a comprehensive list of developments between these dates. 1966 The history of International Accounting Standards really began in 1966, with the proposal to establish an International Study Group comprising:.

(now known as Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada). 1967 In February 1967 this resulted in the foundation of the Accountants International Study Group (AISG), which began to publish papers on important topics every few months and created an appetite for change. Many of these papers led the way for the standards that followed, when in March 1973 it was finally agreed to establish an international body writing accounting standards for international use. 1973 In June 1973 the IASC came into existence, with the stated intent that the new international standards it released must ‘be capable of rapid acceptance and implementation world-wide’. Price of 2015 hyundai elantra gls. The IASC survived for 27 years, until 2001, when the organisation was restructured and the IASC was replaced by the IASB. One of the most comprehensive accounts of this early history of international accounting standards is contained in Lord Benson's article ‘The story of international accounting standards’ which was published in Accountancy magazine in July 1976 (Volume 87, Number 995) on pages 34-39.

A further source of information is Lord Benson's biography ‘Accounting for life’ which was published by Kogan Page, with ICAEW, in 1989. Between 1973 and 2000 the IASC released a series of standards called International Accounting Standards (IAS) in a numerical sequence that began with IAS 1 and ended with IAS 41 Agriculture, which was published in December 2000. 1997 The Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC) was established in 1997 to consider contentious accounting issues that needed authoritative guidance to stop widespread variation in practice.

February 2000 The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a concept release on 24 February 2000 on the acceptability of International Accounting Standards. The ICAEW response was published in a technical release. In the press release issued on 19 May 2000, Graham Ward, Deputy President of the ICAEW, commented: We have long looked forward to the time when financial statements prepared in accordance with international accounting standards are recognised by stock exchanges throughout the world. May 2000 The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) endorses IAS for use in connection with cross-border listings, as announced in a issued by the organisation on 17 May 2000. August 2000 The ICAEW issued a policy statement on the endorsement and enforcement of IAS within the EU. April 2001 The IASC restructured its organisation at the end of the twentieth century, which resulted in the formation of the IASB. These changes came into effect on 1 April 2001.

At the time, the IASB stated that it would adopt the body of standards issued by the Board of the International Accounting Standards Committee (which would continue to be designated ‘International Accounting Standards’ 1), but any new standards would be published in a series called International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 2. References 1 The IASB approved the ‘IASB Resolution on IASC Standards’ at its meeting in April 2001 which confirmed the status of all IASC Standards and SIC Interpretations in effect as of 1 April 2001. 2 The IASB announced that the IASC Foundation Trustees had agreed that accounting standards issued by IASB would be designated ‘International Financial Reporting Standards’ in a statement dated 23 April 2001. July 2001 At the 23 July 2001 meeting of the Standards Advisory Council the IASB submitted a proposal to rename the Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC) as the International Financial Reporting Issues Committee (IFRIC) which was subsequently accepted.

Following this change, releases from IFRIC were categorized as abstracts rather than interpretations. In December 2001 the Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC) was reconstituted as the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC). May 2002 The IASB issued published a press release on 23 May 2002 announcing the publication of the which Sir David Tweedie, IASB Chairman, said provided a brief description of the purpose and function of the main structures of the new arrangements for setting global standards. As such, it is a short but essential introduction to the context within which the Board will frame its standards. June 2002 On 6 June 2002 the European Council of Ministers approved the regulation that would require all EU companies listed on a regulated market to prepare accounts in accordance with International Accounting Standards for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005. ICAEW welcomed the formal approval of the regulation as a landmark development in the creation of a single European capital market. Ian D Wright, Chairman of the ICAEW Financial Reporting Committee, said: The Institute has supported the European Commission through a lengthy political process to see this Regulation come into effect because we believe passionately in the benefits to business of truly international accounting standards.

July 2002 The was adopted on 19 July 2002 by the European Parliament and the Council, requiring listed companies to use International Accounting Standards by 2005. November 2002 ICAEW issued a memorandum on November 7 2002 to the Accounting Standards Board (replaced by the Accounting Council in July 2012) entitled (TECH 20/02), in which the institute highlighted its support for aligning UK accounting standards progressively with IAS, stressing the importance of minimising differences between UK GAAP and IAS in order to maintain comparability between the accounts of listed and larger unlisted companies, avoid unnecessary complexity and prevent practical problems for companies seeking listed status. June 2003 The first IFRS was published in June 2003 – IFRS 1: First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards. July 2003 The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued the press release ‘UK extends use of International Accounting Standards’ on 17 July 2003 announcing that publicly traded companies in the UK would be permitted to use international accounting standards in their individual accounts from 2005 and that other companies and limited liability partnerships in the UK will be permitted to use IAS in both their individual and consolidated accounts from the same date. ICAEW issued a press release in support entitled ‘ICAEW welcomes announcement that unlisted companies can opt to use IAS from 2005’.

September 2003 The European Commission adopted a Regulation endorsing International Accounting Standards (IASs) on 29 September 2003, thereby confirming the requirement for their compulsory use from 2005. At the time, Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said that: Adoption by the Commission of this Regulation, endorsing most of the existing International Accounting Standards and publishing them in the EU's official languages, will help the 7000 or so listed EU companies affected to get ready for 2005, when their consolidated accounts will have to be in line with IAS. That will put an end to the current Tower of Babel in financial reporting, improve competition and transparency and make the free movement of capital much easier. The full text of the regulation is available online. December 2003 In Chancellor Gordon Brown's speech on 10 December 2003, the Chancellor announced that firms applying international accounting standards will not have to submit a second and separate set of accounts to the Inland Revenue.

February 2004 On 24 February 2004 the Inland Revenue published on its website. At the time the website stated that the Finance Bill 2004 would include measures to ensure that companies choosing to adopt International Accounting Standards (IAS) to draw up their accounts will receive broadly equivalent tax treatment to companies that continue to use UK GAAP. March 2004 The DTI published a consultation document on the implementation of the accounting modernisation directive and arrangements for the use of IAS for companies and building societies,. November 2004 On 12 November 2004 the Accounts Modernisation and Fair Value Directives came into force with (SI 2947). 2005 Listed companies in the UK were required to present their financial statements using the international accounting standards adopted by the EU for periods commencing on or after 1 January 2005.

Sources for standards and interpretations Standards (IAS/IFRS) From 1973 until 2000 the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) released a series of International Accounting Standards (IAS). In 2001 the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) was replaced by the and all new standards published since then have been issued as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The text of unaccompanied standards (which are the current year's consolidated standards, excluding additional content such as illustrative examples and basis for conclusions) are freely available from the.

Registration is required. In the ICAEW Library we have printed editions of the individual standards (as published) and annual sets which provide consolidated versions of the standards. At the time of writing the IASB publishes three sets of consolidated standards each year, which are generally referred to as the red, blue and green books (although each set is actually published as two books).

The Red Book The original set of standards, now known as the Red Book, is still published and follows the practice of previous years by consolidating all IFRSs issued at 1 January, including those with an effective date later than 1 January. It excludes IFRSs that are being replaced or superseded (which remain applicable if the reporting entity chooses not to adopt the newer versions early). Part A contains IFRSs, IASs, IFRICs and SICs and Part B the accompanying documents The Blue Book ‘IFRS: Consolidated without early application’, also known as the Blue Book, was first launched in 2010. This publication consolidates those standards with an effective date no later than 1 January, so excludes any standards effective after this date which are available to early adopters.

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Part A contains IFRSs, IASs, IFRICs and SICs and Part B the accompanying documents. The Blue Book is a permitted text for the ICAEW ACA Professional Level exams in Financial Accounting and Reporting, Business Planning: Banking and Business Planning: Insurance. The Blue Book is also a permitted text for the ACA Advanced Level exams. The Green Book ‘A guide through IFRS’, also known as the Green Book, was launched in 2007. The publication consolidates all IFRSs issued at 1 July, including those with an effective date later than 1 July. It excludes IFRSs that are being replaced or superseded (which remain applicable if the reporting entity chooses not to adopt the newer versions early).

Part A contains IFRSs, IASs, IFRICs and SICs and Part B the accompanying documents. See the links below for full details of the Library's holdings:. Our webpages on include links to guides, news updates and other online resources for each of the standards.

Interpretations (SIC/IFRIC) SIC Interpretations agreed by the Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC) and ratified by the IASB were published between 1997 and 2001. IFRIC Interpretations agreed by the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) and ratified by the IASB have been published since 2001. In 2010 the IFRIC was renamed the IFRS Interpretations Committee. An explanation of the process can be found on the IASB website under. The text of unaccompanied standards (which are the current year's consolidated standards, excluding additional content such as illustrative examples and basis for conclusions) including SICs and IFRICs are freely available from the. Registration is required. The full official text of the interpretations are included in the current bound volumes of IASB standards which are available from the.

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We have printed copies in the ICAEW Library of the individual interpretations and the current volumes of standards, in addition to access to an online database with electronic versions of the interpretations. See the links below for full details of the Library's holdings:. You can obtain information about recent IFRIC interpretations and draft IFRIC interpretations through the IASB website from the section.

The IAS Plus website from Deloitte also provides comprehensive summaries of and, including those interpretations which have been superseded. Legality of IFRS in the UK In April 2013, George Bompas QC produced a legal opinion challenging the legal status of IFRS in the UK. The opinion was commissioned by an investment group including the Universities Superannuation Scheme, Threadneedle Asset Management, UK Shareholders Association and the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum. An Economia article published on 21 June 2013 summarises Bompas’s report:.

In October 2013, Martin Moore QC issued a legal opinion sponsored by the FRC stating its position:. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills released a government response, on 3 October 2013 stating: The Department for Business has given serious consideration to concerns raised by some stakeholders that accounts prepared over the past 30 years, in accordance with UK or international financial reporting standards, have not been properly prepared under UK and EU law. However, it is entirely satisfied that the concerns expressed are misconceived and that the existing legal framework, including international financial reporting standards, is binding under European law. The FRC issued a press release, on the same day confirming that it shares the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’s view.

Michael Izza commented on the debate with a blog post published on 9 October 2013,. Other international accounting standards International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) The focuses on ‘the accounting and financial reporting needs of national, regional and local governments, related governmental agencies’. The IPSASB issues International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) for this audience which are published in full text within the IFAC Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements. The Handbook is available to download from the free of charge. IFAC published an article in December 2017 that describes the history of the IPSASB from its beginnings as the IFAC Public Sector Committee.