The IFRS Interpretations Committee (Committee) discussed the following matter and tentatively decided not to add a standard-setting project to the work plan. The Committee will reconsider this tentative decision, including the reasons for not adding a standard-setting project, at a future meeting. The Committee invites comments on the tentative agenda decision. All comments will be on the public record and posted on our website unless a respondent requests confidentiality and we grant that request. We do not normally grant such requests unless they are supported by good reason, for example, commercial confidence.
Tentative Agenda Decision
The Committee received a request about the accounting applied by an entity that is no longer a going concern (as described in paragraph 25 of IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements). The request asked whether such an entity:
- can prepare financial statements for prior periods on a going concern basis if it was a going concern in those periods and has not previously prepared financial statements for those periods (Question I).
- restates comparative information to reflect the basis of accounting used in preparing the current period’s financial statements if it had previously issued financial statements for the comparative period on a going concern basis (Question II).
Question I
Paragraph 25 of IAS 1 requires an entity to prepare financial statements on a going concern basis ‘unless management either intends to liquidate the entity or to cease trading, or has no realistic alternative but to do so’. Paragraph 14 of IAS 10 states that ‘an entity shall not prepare its financial statements on a going concern basis if management determines after the reporting period either that it intends to liquidate the entity or to cease trading, or that it has no realistic alternative but to do so’.
Applying paragraph 25 of IAS 1 and paragraph 14 of IAS 10, an entity that is no longer a going concern cannot prepare financial statements (including those for prior periods that have not yet been authorised for issue) on a going concern basis.
The Committee therefore concluded that the principles and requirements in IFRS Standards provide an adequate basis for an entity that is no longer a going concern to determine whether it prepares its financial statements on a going concern basis.
Question II
Based on its research, the Committee observed no diversity in the application of IFRS Standards with respect to Question II—entities do not restate comparative information to reflect the basis of preparation used in the current period when they first prepare financial statements on a basis that is not a going concern basis. Therefore, the Committee has not [yet] obtained evidence that the matter has widespread effect.
For the reasons noted above, the Committee [decided] not to add a standard-setting project on these matters to the work plan.
The deadline for commenting on the tentative agenda decision is 14 April 2021. The Committee will consider all comments received in writing by that date; agenda papers analysing comments received will include analysis only of comments received by that date.
