General

A. Basis of Reporting

1. Name of the enterprise whose financial statements are being presented, or other means of identification;

2. Enterprise's country of incorporation, domicile and legal form;

3. Address of its registered office or principal place of business if different from the registered office;

4. Disclosure whether the financial statements cover the individual enterprise or a group of enterprises;

5. Name of the reporting enterprise's parent and the ultimate parent enterprise of the group;

6. Number of employees either as of the year-end or the average for the period;

7. Currency in terms of which financial statements are expressed;

8. Level of precision used in the presentation of the figures in the financial statements;

9. Description of the nature of the enterprise's operations and its principal activities;

10. Balance sheet date and the period covered by the financial statements.

    (IAS 1, Paras 46 and 102)

B. Compliance with International Accounting Standards

1. An enterprise whose financial statements comply with International Accounting Standards should disclose that fact. Unless financial statements comply with all the requirements of each applicable IAS and each applicable interpretation of the Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC), they should not be described as complying with IAS.

   (IAS 1, Para 11)

2. In extremely rare cases, when management has concluded that compliance with a requirement of an IAS would be misleading, and thus departure from a requirement is necessary to achieve a fair presentation, an enterprise should disclose

   1. That the management has concluded that the financial statement fairly present the enterprise's financial position, financial performance and cash flows;

   2. That it has complied in all material respects with the applicable IAS except that it departed from a Standard in order to achieve a fair presentation;

   3. The IAS from which the enterprise has departed, the nature of the departure, including the treatment that the Standard would require, the reason why that treatment would be misleading in the circumstances, and the treatment actually adopted; and

   4. The financial impact of the departure on the enterprise's net profit or loss, assets, liabilities, equity, and cash flows for each period presented.

   (IAS 1, Para 13)

3. When an International Accounting Standard is applied before it becomes operative (i.e., before its effective date as mandated by the specific standard) that fact should be disclosed.

   (IAS 1, Para 19)

4. When an enterprise applies for the first time IAS as a primary accounting basis, it should disclose

   1. Where the amount of adjustment to opening balance of retained earnings cannot be reasonably determined, that fact;

   2. Where it is impracticable to provide comparative information, that fact; and

   3. For each IAS that permits a choice of transitional accounting policies, the policy selected.

   4. Additionally, enterprises are encouraged to disclose the fact that IAS are being applied in full for the first time.

   (SIC 8)

C. Accounting Changes

1. Change in accounting policy (alternative disclosures rules apply based on election of benchmark or allowed alternative treatment).

   1. If benchmark treatment is elected

      1. Reason(s) for the change;

      2. Amount of adjustment on current period and for each period presented;

      3. Amount of adjustment relating to periods prior to those included in the comparative information; and

      4. 1. If comparative information has been restated, the fact that it has been restated,

            or

         2. If comparative information is not restated because it is not practicable to do so, then disclosure of this fact.

         (IAS 8, Para 53)

   2. If allowed alternative treatment is elected

      1. Reason(s) for the change;

      2. The amount of adjustment recognized in the net profit or loss for the current period;

      3. The amount of the adjustment included in each period for which pro forma information is presented and the amount of adjustment relating to periods prior to those included in the financial statements; and

      4. If it is not practicable to present pro forma information, this fact should be disclosed.

      (IAS 8, Para 57)

2. Change in accounting estimate

   1. Nature and amount of change in an accounting estimate, if material.

   2. If it is not practicable to quantify the amount, this fact should be disclosed.

   (IAS 8, Para 30)

3. Correction of errors

   1. If benchmark treatment is elected

      1. The nature of the error;

      2. The amount of the correction for the current period and for each period presented;

      3. The amount of the correction which relates to periods prior to those included in the comparative information; and

      4. 1. If comparative information has been restated, this fact should be made explicit, or

         2. If comparative information is not restated because it is not practicable to do so, then this fact must be disclosed.

         (IAS 8, Para 37)

   2. If allowed alternative treatment is elected

      1. The nature of error;

      2. The amount of the correction of the error which is recognized in the net profit or loss for the current period;

      3. The amount of the correction of the error which is included in each period for which pro forma information is presented and the amount of correction relating to periods prior to those included in the pro forma information; and

      4. If it is not practicable to present pro forma information, this fact should be disclosed.

   (IAS 8, Para 40)

D. Related-Party Disclosures

1. Those related-party relationships where "control" exists should be disclosed—whether or not there have been transactions between the related parties.

   (IAS 24, Para 20)

2. Where transactions have taken place between related parties, the following disclosures are required to be made by the reporting enterprise:

   1. The nature of the related-party relationship;

   2. The types of related-party transactions; and

   3. The elements of the transactions necessary for an understanding of the financial statements, including

      1. An indication of the volume of the transactions either as an amount or as an appropriate proportion;

      2. Amounts or appropriate proportions of outstanding items; and

      3. Pricing policies.

      (IAS 24, Paras 22 & 23)

3. Aggregation of items of similar nature is permitted, unless separate disclosure is needed for an understanding of the effects of the related-party transactions on the financial statements of the reporting enterprise.

   (IAS 24, Para 24)

E. Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets

1. An enterprise should disclose for each class of contingent liability, unless the possibility of any outflow in settlement is remote, a brief description of the nature of the contingent liability. If practicable, an enterprise should also disclose an estimate of its financial effect, an indication of the uncertainties relating to the amount or timing of the outflow, and the possibility of any reimbursement.

   (IAS 37, Para 86)

2. An enterprise should disclose a brief description of the nature of the contingent assets at the balance sheet date, where an inflow of economic benefits is probable. Where practical, an estimate of their financial effect should be disclosed.

   (IAS 37, Para 89)

3. Where an enterprise does not disclose any information required by IAS 37, para 86, and IAS 37, para 89, because it is not practical to do so, that fact should be disclosed.

   (IAS 37, Para 91)

4. In extremely rare circumstances, if disclosure of some or all of the information required by IAS 37, para 86, and IAS 37, para 89, would prejudice seriously the position of the enterprise in a dispute with other parties, on the subject matter of the contingent liability or contingent asset, an enterprise need not disclose such information. Instead, in such cases it should disclose the general nature of the dispute, along with the fact that, and reason why, the information has not been disclosed by the enterprise.

   (IAS 37, Para 92)

F. Events After the Balance Sheet Date

1. When nonadjusting events after the balance sheet date are so significant that nondisclosure would affect the ability of the users of the financial statements to make proper evaluations and decisions, an enterprise should disclose the nature of the event and an estimate of its financial effect. Such disclosure is required for each significant category of nonadjusting post-balance-sheet event. If such an estimate is not possible, a statement to that effect should be made.

   (IAS 10, Para 20)

2. The date when the financial statements were authorized for issue and who gave the authorization should be disclosed by an enterprise. If the enterprise's owners or others have the power to amend the financial statements after issuance, the enterprise should disclose that fact.

   (IAS 10, Para 16)

3. If an enterprise receives information after the balance sheet date about the conditions that existed at the balance sheet date, the enterprise should update disclosures that relate to these conditions, based on the new information received.

   (IAS 10, Para 18)

G. Comparative Information

1. Financial statements should disclose comparative information in respect of the preceding period for all numerical information presented.

   (IAS 1, Para 38)

2. In the case of property, plant, and equipment, comparative information is not required for reconciliation of carrying amount at the beginning and end of the period.

   (IAS 16, Para 60)

3. In the case of intangible assets, comparative information is not required for reconciliation of carrying amount at the beginning and end of the period.

   (IAS 38, Para 107)

4. In the case of provisions, comparative information is not required for the reconciliation of carrying amount at the beginning and end of the period.

   (IAS 37, Para 84)

H. Going Concern

When management is aware in making its assessment of material uncertainties related to events or conditions which may cast significant doubt upon the enterprise's ability to continue as a going concern, those uncertainties should be disclosed. When the financial statements are not prepared on a going concern basis, that fact should be disclosed, together with the basis on which the financial statements are prepared and the reason why the enterprise is not considered to be a going concern.

(IAS 1, Para 23)

I. Current/Noncurrent Distinction

Whether an enterprise chooses a classified presentation of the balance sheet with current/noncurrent distinction, or it presents an unclassified balance sheet, it should disclose, for each asset and liability item that combines amounts expected to be recovered or settled both before and after twelve months from the balance sheet date, the amount expected to be recovered or settled after more than twelve.

(IAS 1, Para 54)

J. Uncertainties

Enterprises are encouraged to disclose, outside the financial statements, information about the principal uncertainties they face. A specific example of such disclosure is suggested by SIC 6, in connection with software modifications creating more than routine levels of uncertainty.

(IAS 1, Para 8, and SIC 6)