ADVANCED FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING:
Coursework assignment:
In September 2010 the IASB issued The Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting. This document was a joint project between the IASB and the US standard setters the FASB. The document issued in 2010 was a hybrid, Chapter 1 was a new version of the conceptual framework objectives and qualitative characteristics of financial information. Chapter 4 contained material from the original framework document, originally published in 1989. The plan was for the IASB and FASB to collaborate and issue new material covering the remaining parts of the framework.
However in September 2012 the IASB discussed a proposal to restart the Conceptual Framework project on their own, without collaborating with other standard setters and this work has been progressing towards the expected publication of a discussion paper in the third quarter of 2014.
You are required to prepare a briefing paper for professional accountants discussing what has been happening with the IASB Conceptual Framework.
Requirement:
Prepare a briefing document on the IASB conceptual framework. Your briefing document should include:
i) A discussion of the purpose of a conceptual framework document.
ii) A discussion of why collaborative work on the conceptual framework project, between the IASB and the FASB was suspended.
iii) Select one aspect of the matters to be covered by the 2014 discussion paper and explain the importance of this issue.)
Some of the matters which might potentially be included in the 2014 discussion paper are:
Elements of financial statement: definitions of assets and liabilities;
Recognition
The approach to defining income and expense
The reporting entity
Going concern
Stewardship
Reliability
Prudence
Substance over form
The primary user of financial reporting
Complexity and understandability
iv) For the issue which you have selected in section iii) outline how you would like to see it dealt with in the final version of the conceptual framework.
Details about the conceptual framework project are available on the IFRS website
https://www.ifrs.org/Current-Projects/IASB-Projects/Conceptual-Framework/Pages/Conceptual-Framework-Summary.aspx
and the current version of the conceptual framework can also be found
on the IFRS website https://www.ifrs.org/IFRSs/Pages/IFRS.aspx (you need to register on the IFRS website to access the conceptual framework and the IFRSs and IASs)
The word limit is 1,500 words maximum. You will be asked to include your word count on the coversheet when you submit your coursework.