At-A-Glance

COVID-19 Related

International

IASB – International Accounting Standards Board (www.ifrs.org)

• Coronavirus Information and resources – link –
  https://www.ifrs.org/news-and-events/2020/03/the-coronavirus-and-the-foundations-work/

• Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions beyond 30 June 2021 (amendment to IFRS 16), issued March 31, 2021, extends the relief to cover rent concessions that reduce only lease payments due on or before 30 June 2022. Effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after April 1, 2021.

IFAC – International Federation of Accountants (www.ifac.org)

1. COVID-19 Resources from IFAC's Network – link -
   https://www.ifac.org/knowledge-gateway/series/COVID-19-resources-ifacs-network

ACCA – Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (www.accaglobal.com/)

1. Coronavirus Information and resources – link -
   https://www.accaglobal.com/us/en/cam/coronavirus.html

CIMA – Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (www.cimaglobal.com)

1. Update on the Coronavirus and Impact for Association Activities – link -
   https://www.cimaglobal.com/Members/Update-on-Coronavirus/

IIRC - International Integrated Reporting Council (www.theiirc.org)

1. No new developments

World Economic Forum – (www.weforum.org)

1. The COVID Action Platform – link - https://www.weforum.org/platforms/covid-action-platform - focuses on three priorities: 1. Galvanize the global business community for collective action. 2. Protect people’s livelihoods and facilitate business continuity. 3. Mobilize cooperation and business support for the COVID-19 response

Africa, Europe, India, and the Middle East (AEIME)

FRC – Financial Reporting Council of the UK (www.frc.org.uk)

• FRC guidance for companies and auditors during COVID-19 crisis – link - https://www.frc.org.uk/covid-19-guidance-and-advice.

• FRED 78 - Draft amendments to FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland and FRS 105 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the Micro-entities Regime - COVID-19-related rent concessions beyond 30 June 2021, issued April 20, 2021, “proposes that requirements originally introduced into FRS 102 and FRS 105 in October 2020 apply to rent concessions that reduce only lease payments originally due on or before 30 June 2022, provided the other conditions for applying the requirements are met.” The comment period ended on 11 May 2020.

ICAEW - Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (https://www.icaew.com/)

1. Coronavirus – updates – link - https://www.icaew.com/insights/coronavirus.

EFRAG – European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (www.efrag.org)

1. No new developments

Americas, Asia, Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ)

1. AICPA Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center – link - https://www.aicpa.org/news/aicpa-coronavirus-resource-center.html

1. FASB Response to COVID-19 – link - https://www.fasb.org/COVID19

1. GASB Response to COVID-19 – link -  https://www.gasb.org/COVID19

• No new developments

1. PCAOB Response to COVID-19 – link -  https://pcaobus.org/Pages/response-to-COVID-19.aspx

1. No new developments

1. SEC Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response – link - https://www.sec.gov/sec-coronavirus-COVID-19-response CAANZ - Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/)

CAANZ – Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (www.charteredaccountantsanz.com)

1. Financial Reporting and Audit Guide: Financial reporting and audit issues stemming from COVID-19 – link - https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/tools-and-resources/client-service-essentials/reporting/financial-reporting-and-audit-guide-financial-reporting-and-audit-issues-stemming-from-covid19

Other Updates

International

IASB – International Accounting Standards Board (www.ifrs.org)

• Exposure Draft - Management Commentary, issued May 27, 2021, “revamping the management commentary, typically known in the U.S. as the MD&A section that often accompanies quarterly financial statements and annual reports.” Comment period ends November 23, 2021.

• Deferred Tax related to Assets and Liabilities arising from a Single Transaction - Amendments to IAS 12, issued May 7, 2021, requires “an entity to recognise deferred tax on initial recognition of particular transactions to the extent that the transaction gives rise to equal amounts of deferred tax assets and liabilities. “Amendments …apply to particular transactions for which an entity recognises both an asset and a liability, such as leases and decommissioning obligations.” The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Earlier application is permitted.

• Exposure Draft - IFRS Taxonomy 2021 - Disclosure of Accounting Policies and Definition of Accounting Estimates, issued April 21, 2021, “for the following amendments to IFRS Standards: Disclosure of Accounting Policies, which amended IAS 1 and IFRS Practice Statement 2; and Definition of Accounting Estimates, which amended IAS 8. Comment period ends June 21, 2021.

• Exposure Draft - Lack of Exchangeability - Proposed amendments to IAS 21, issued April 20, 2021, “to help companies determine whether a currency can be exchanged into another currency, and what accounting to apply if the currency cannot be exchanged.” Comment period ends September 1, 2021.

IFAC – International Federation of Accountants (www.ifac.org)

• Enabling Purpose Driven Organizations: PAIBs Leading Sustainability and Digital Transformation, report published May 19, 2021. “IFAC’s Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Advisory Group has compiled insights on key global trends impacting the future readiness of the accountancy profession.

• The Professional Accountant’s Role in Data, report published May 13, 2021, jointly by IFAC and CPA Canada, “outlines a new model, the data management value chain, in which accountants can, by building upon key competencies, reimagine their roles to meaningfully contribute to the digital economy.”  
  

• Enhancing Corporate Reporting: Sustainability Building Blocks, published May 6, 2021, “enhances the previously issued roadmap, The Way Forward…to foster discussion on how this approach can deliver a global system for consistent, comparable, and assurable sustainability-related information that best meets the needs of investors and other stakeholders.”
  
  
• Groundbreakers: Gen Z and the Future of Accountancy, survey report published May 5, 2021, jointly by IFAC and ACCA, “examines how this generation’s priorities and skills will redefine work, provides guidance to Gen Z on navigating their careers as the workplace transforms, and outlines the strategies organizations should adopt to harness Generation Z’s potential and help them thrive.”
  
  
• The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) - Revisions to the Non-Assurances Services Provisions of the Code, issued April 28, 2021, “clarifying and addressing the circumstances in which firms and network firms may or may not provide a NAS to an audit or assurance client. The revised provisions include new requirements that expressly prohibit firms and network firms from providing certain types of NAS to their audit clients, especially when they are public interest entities (PIEs).” Effective generally in 2023.

• International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) - Exposure Drafts - ED 76, Conceptual Framework Update: Chapter 7, Measurement of Assets and Liabilities in Financial Statements; ED 77, Measurement; ED 78, Property, Plant, and Equipment; and ED 79, Non-Current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations, issued April 22, 2021, “address several key conceptual challenges and practical implementation issues identified by the public sector community by introducing: Straight-forward measurement principles, by way of a measurement hierarchy, that apply throughout IPSAS and align with the Conceptual Framework; Enhanced guidance clarifying the recognition and measurement of infrastructure and heritage assets that are Property, Plant, and Equipment; and A standard that fills a gap for assets held for sale and discontinued operations.” The comment period ends October 25, 2021.

• International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) - Non-Authoritative Guidance on Applying ISAE 3000 (Revised) to Extended External Reporting (EER) Assurance Engagement, issued April 6, 2021, “addresses a number of overarching matters, including applying appropriate competence and capabilities, exercising professional skepticism and professional judgement, and the preconditions for an assurance engagement, as well as more specific technical matters. The Guidance also provides further explanation and examples to better understand the distinction between limited assurance and reasonable assurance engagements.”

ACCA – Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (www.accaglobal.com)

• Invisible threads: communicating integrated thinking report, published May 26, 2021, “looks at three key ways in which integrated thinking is communicated in the annual integrated report: clear communication of strategy, pertinent discussions about non-financial value drivers that form the basis of the multi-capitals model, and consistency between the narrative report and the financial statements.” 

• Know Your Client: Is it time to digitalise the first line of defence?, report published May 13, 2021, “warns finance professionals against over-confidence in trusting their ‘gut feel’ about clients and strongly recommends they consider if digital technology checks could help…The survey concludes that some accountants could derive real benefits from online anti-fraud tools and that software producers and regulators must work together to ensure the technology is affordable and globally available.”
  

• Groundbreakers: Gen Z and the Future of Accountancy, survey report published May 5, 2021, jointly by IFAC and ACCA, “examines how this generation’s priorities and skills will redefine work, provides guidance to Gen Z on navigating their careers as the workplace transforms, and outlines the strategies organizations should adopt to harness Generation Z’s potential and help them thrive.”

1. Blockchain risk: considerations for professionals, white paper published April 29, 2021, jointly by CIMA, AICPA and ISACA ( Information Systems Audit and Control Association), “documents, describes and provides context around specific risk related to blockchain implementation and operation. It is organised by five key domains—governance, infrastructure, data, key management, and smart contracts.

1. No new developments.

1. No new developments

Africa, Europe, India, and the Middle East (AEIME)

FRC – Financial Reporting Council of the UK (www.frc.org.uk)

• ISA (UK) 240 (Revised May 2021) - The Auditor's responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements, issued May 27, 2021, “provide increased clarity as to the auditor's obligations, addressing the concern raised by Sir Donald Brydon in his review of the quality and effectiveness of audit. The revisions include enhancements to the requirements for the identification and assessment of risk of material misstatement due to fraud and the procedures to respond to those risks.” Effective for audits of periods beginning on or after 15 December 2021 with early adoption permitted.
  

• Revised International Standard for Review Engagement (UK) 2410 (ISRE (UK) 2410) Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity, issued May 20, 2021, “provides additional clarity on auditor responsibilities, strengthens the review procedures required on management’s going concern assessment and strengthens reporting requirements in relation to going concern.” Effective generally in 2022. Early adoption is permitted.

• No new developments.

EC - European Commission (www.ec.europa.eu)

• Proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) – issued April 21, 2021, “would amend the existing reporting requirements of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). The proposal extends the scope to all large companies and all companies listed on regulated markets (except listed micro-enterprises), requires the audit (assurance) of reported information, introduces more detailed reporting requirements, and a requirement to report according to mandatory EU sustainability reporting standards, [and] requires companies to digitally ‘tag’ the reported information, so it is machine readable and feeds into the European single access point envisaged in the capital markets union action plan.

EFRAG – European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (www.efrag.org)

1. No new developments.

Americas, Asia, Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ)

AICPA – American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (www.aicpa.org)

1. Blockchain risk: considerations for professionals, white paper published April 29, 2021, jointly by CIMA, AICPA and ISACA ( Information Systems Audit and Control Association), “documents, describes and provides context around specific risk related to blockchain implementation and operation. It is organised by five key domains—governance, infrastructure, data, key management, and smart contracts.
   

FASB – Financial Accounting Standards Board (www.fasb.org)

• Exposure Draft – Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) – Fair Value Hedging-Portfolio Layer Method, issued May 5, 2021, “would expand the current single-layer model to allow multiple-layer hedges of a single closed portfolio of prepayable financial assets or one or more beneficial interests secured by a portfolio of prepayable financial instruments under the method. To reflect that expansion, the last-of-layer method would be renamed as the portfolio layer method. Additionally, the proposed ASU would: clarify eligible hedging instruments in a single-layer strategy; provide additional guidance on the accounting for and disclosure of fair value hedge basis adjustments that would be applicable to both the current single-layer model and the proposed multiple-layer model; [and] indicate how fair value hedge basis adjustments should be considered when determining credit losses for the assets included in the closed portfolio.” Comment period ends July 5, 2021.

• Earnings Per Share (Topic 260), Debt— Modifications and Extinguishments (Subtopic 470-50), Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718), and Derivatives and Hedging— Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) Issuer’s Accounting for Certain Modifications or Exchanges of Freestanding Equity-Classified Written Call Options - An Amendment of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification - ASU 2021-04, issued May 3, 2021, “clarifies an issuer’s accounting for certain modifications or exchanges of freestanding equity-classified written call options (for example, warrants) that remain equity classified after modification or exchange…The ASU provides guidance on how an issuer would measure and recognize the effect of these transactions. Specifically, it provides a principles-based framework to determine whether an issuer should recognize the modification or exchange as an adjustment to equity or an expense.” Effective prospectively, generally beginning in 2022. Early adoption is permitted.

GASB – Governmental Accounting Standards Board (www.gasb.org)

• Exposure Draft - Accounting Changes and Error Corrections - an amendment of GASB Statement No. 62, issued June 1, 2021, proposes to “to enhance accounting and financial reporting requirements for accounting changes and error corrections to provide more understandable, reliable, relevant, consistent, and comparable information for making decisions or assessing accountability. This proposed Statement would define accounting changes as changes in accounting principles, changes in accounting estimates, and changes to or within the financial reporting entity and would describe the transactions or other events that constitute those changes.” Comment period ends August 31, 2021.

• Exposure Draft - The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, issued April 13, 2021, “to change the “comprehensive annual financial report” to the “annual comprehensive financial report. The proposed name change was prompted by GASB stakeholders raising concerns that the existing acronym for the report, when spoken, sounds like a profoundly offensive term.” Comment period ends July 9, 2021.

1. No new developments

1. No new developments

1. No new developments

1. Exposure Draft - Interim Final Amendments – issued March 24, 2021, pursuant to submission and disclosure requirements of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCA Act), for an “audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that is located in a foreign jurisdiction and that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has determined it is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in that jurisdiction,” will require the “registrant to submit documentation to the Commission establishing that the registrant is not owned or controlled by a governmental entity in that foreign jurisdiction, and will also require disclosure in a foreign issuer’s annual report regarding the audit arrangements of, and governmental influence on, such a registrant.” The interim final amendments become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register and comments on the amendments are due by the same date.