NZASB Update 2/2020

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NZASB February Meeting

Applies to: For-profitNot-for-profitPublic Sector

The February Board meeting was held in Wellington on the afternoon of 13 February and the morning of 14 February.

This NZASB meeting followed a joint NZASB and NZAuASB^[1] non-public meeting on the morning of 13 February. The two Boards met jointly for the first time to discuss issues of common interest and how they can work better together. It was very successful, and the two Boards intend to meet together again in the future.

On 13 February, the NZASB:

• considered the proposals in the IASB’s Exposure Draft General Presentation and Disclosures;
• approved the following domestic standards:

•  Withdrawal of PBE FRS 46 (Amendments to PBE FRS 47); and
• PBE Interest Rate Benchmark Reform.  

On 14 February, the NZASB considered:

• an analysis of submissions on the Targeted Review of the New Zealand Accounting Standards Framework; and
• the project plan for the post-implementation review of the Tier 3 and Tier 4 PBE Accounting Requirements. 

Have a look   

[1] New Zealand Auditing and Assurance Standards Board

IASB Exposure Draft: General Presentation and Disclosures—Webinar recording now available!

The IFRS Foundation has made available a recording of the live webinar introducing the Exposure Draft General Presentation and Disclosures (the ED).

The ED includes proposals to introduce requirements for entities to:

1. present new subtotals in the statement of profit or loss (including an operating profit or loss subtotal) – adding more structure to the statement of profit or loss; and
2. disclose information about management performance measures (also referred to as non-GAAP or alternative performance measure) – adding more discipline and transparency around the use of such measures.

The proposals will affect virtually all entities reporting in accordance with IFRS Standards. Many entities that currently present an EBIT or EBITDA^[2] subtotal in the statement of profit or loss will find that under the proposals they would no longer be able to do so.

The ED proposes to withdraw IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements and introduce a new IFRS Standard. The ED also proposes amendments to other standards. The slide (shown below) from the webinar summarises the standards that would be impacted by the proposals.

The webinar is approximately 45 minutes, including questions and answers.

Have a look

The NZASB seeks your feedback on the proposals in the ED by 21 May 2020. 

Find out more

[2] Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Extended External Reporting (EER) Resources available on XRB website

The end of 2019 and start of 2020 has seen an escalation in calls for organisations to disclose more ‘non-financial information’, in addition to the financial information presented in their financial statements.

Notably, there has been strong demand from investors and other stakeholders for organisations to provide more visibility over climate-related financial risk, gender diversity, corporate culture and governance.

Locally, we have seen regulators introduce requirements or make recommendations for organisations to disclose non-financial information. For example, in late 2019 the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment issued a discussion document which explored the possibility of requiring certain companies to report in accordance with the recommendations made by the Financial Stability Board’s Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (the TCFD recommendations).

Entities responding to these calls for more information have the following challenges:

• understanding what non-financial reporting encompasses;
• identifying the material matters to report on; and
• selecting an appropriate framework(s), from the multitude of resources currently available.

In order to assist entities that are thinking about these issues the XRB has brought together a range of useful information and resources about non-financial reporting.  

Have a look

Have your say…

Before issuing a finalised accounting standard the NZASB and the international standard-setting boards, the IASB and the IPSASB, issue consultation documents. These documents seek your feedback on proposals that could potentially affect you.

We are currently consulting on the matter set out in the table below. 

Tell us how these changes could affect your entity or the entities you work with.

We welcome your comments and feedback, either formal or informal, by the due dates below.

You can submit your comments directly from the Exposure Draft page on our website following the link below.

IASB Consultation Document

 Note: There are no current IPSASB or domestic consultations.