News
The Accounting Standards Board's revised proposals for the Future of Financial Reporting Standards in the UK and Ireland have been received favourably following feedback to its previous exposure drafts. Objections to proposed IFRS for SMEs are seen as the reason behind this.
Isobel Sharp, senior technical partner at Deloitte, commented:
“The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) seems to have taken on board the two major criticisms of its proposals from a year ago. It has removed the vague definition of ‘public accountability’ and it has re-introduced several useful and well understood options currently offered by UK accounting. The result, however, is a proposed standard drawing from both international and UK sources. The challenge for the ASB is to demonstrate that this proposal is a fine blend and not a stodgy pudding.”
"Some financial institutions will now be allowed to apply the new GAAP rather than having to move to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)," said PwC partner Iain Selfridge.
"Increasing the scope of companies that can use the revised UK GAAP is a sensible policy choice by the ASB. It will not impede the quality of financial reporting. But it will provide welcome relief for many companies in this economic climate, given the time and cost burden of producing accounts under full IFRS for the first time."
Published: 1 February, 2012