IFRS Consultants in Pantheerankavu

MS Legal Associates: We are IFRS Consultants in Pantheerankavu.

What is IFRS?

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is a set of accounting standards developed by an independent, not-for-profit organization called the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

The goal of IFRS is to provide a global framework for how public companies prepare and disclose their financial statements. IFRS provides general guidance for the preparation of financial statements, rather than setting rules for industry-specific reporting.

Accounting provides companies, investors, regulators and others with a standardised way to describe the financial performance of an entity. Accounting standards present preparers of financial statements with a set of rules to abide by when preparing an entity's accounts, ensuring this standardisation across the market. Companies listed on public stock exchanges are legally required to publish financial statements in accordance with the relevant accounting standards.

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS Standards) is a single set of accounting standards, developed and maintained by the International Accounting Standards Board (the Board) with the intention of those standards being capable of being applied on a globally consistent basis-by developed, emerging and developing economies-thus providing investors and other users of financial statements with the ability to compare the financial performance of publicly listed companies on a like-for-like basis with their international peers.

Having an international standard is especially important for large companies that have subsidiaries in different countries. Adopting a single set of world-wide standards will simplify accounting procedures by allowing a company to use one reporting language throughout. A single standard will also provide investors and auditors with a cohesive view of finances.

Currently, over 100 countries permit or require IFRS for public companies, with more countries expected to transition to IFRS by 2015. Proponents of IFRS as an international standard maintain that the cost of implementing IFRS could be offset by the potential for compliance to improve credit ratings.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has announced that IFRS will be mandatory in India for financial statements for the periods beginning on or after 1 April 2016 in a phased manner. There is a roadmap issued by MCA for adoption of IFRS.

Reserve Bank of India has stated that financial statements of banks need to be IFRS-compliant for periods beginning on or after 1 April 2011.

The ICAI has also stated that IFRS will be applied to companies above INR 1000 crore (INR 10 billion) from April 2011. Phase wise applicability details for different companies in India:

Standard IFRS Requirements

IFRS cover a wide range of accounting activities. There are certain aspects of business practice for which IFRS set mandatory rules.

1. Statement of Financial Position: This is also known as a balance sheet. IFRS influence the ways in which the components of a balance sheet are reported.

2. Statement of Comprehensive Income: This can take the form of one statement, or it can be separated into a profit and loss statement and a statement of other income, including property and equipment.

3. Statement of Changes in Equity: Also known as a statement of retained earnings, this documents the company's change in earnings or profit for the given financial period.

4. Statement of Cash Flow: This report summarizes the company's financial transactions in the given period, separating cash flow into Operations, Investing, and Financing.

In addition to these basic reports, a company must also give a summary of its accounting policies. The full report is often seen side by side with the previous report, to show the changes in profit and loss. A parent company must create separate account reports for each of its subsidiary companies.

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