Welcome to Beyond The Numbers, our monthly newsletter which brings you a summary of the latest developments from local and international standard setters and regulators.
Click on one of the Newsletter sections below:
| Top Story |
| Local Reporting |
| Regulations |
| International News |
| Events |
Financial Reporting Update | Live Webinar
Registrations are now open for Nexia’s 2023 Financial Reporting Update webinar which will be held on Thursday, 1 June 11:00am - 12:00pm AEST.
Join our experts as they explore the key financial reporting and regulatory changes including:
• The key accounting standards changes for 30 June 2023;
• How recent changes will affect the classification of loans with annual review clauses, covenants and other conditions;
• Legislative changes affecting companies, ACNC registered charities, and other not-for-profit entities;
• How you will be affected by the sustainability and climate-related disclosure projects.
AASB Board Meeting – May 2023
The agenda and papers for the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) meeting on 4 May are available. The meeting will discuss:
- Submissions and feedback on the not-for-profit Tier 3 Discussion Paper and possible next steps;
- Development of the Service Performance Reporting project plan;
- The development of Post-Implementation Reviews of public sector and other domestic Australian Accounting Standards and Interpretations.
ASIC updates regulatory guide on directors’ solvency statements
ASIC has updated Regulatory Guide RG 22 Directors’ solvency declaration, which explains the requirements for the directors’ solvency declaration and the obligations of directors when making the declaration.
Some of the points noted in the guide include:
- Directors must consider the entity’s capacity to pay debts it has incurred as at the date of the directors’ declaration, rather than as at the end of the financial year;
- The guide includes examples of the information that directors should consider in assessing whether there are reasonable grounds for believing that the entity is able to pay its debts as and when they fall due;
- Whether an entity “will be able to pay its debts as and when they become due and payable” includes consideration of future debts and not just those liabilities existing at the date of the declaration.
ASIC releases updated guidance for AFS licensees
ASIC has updated guidance on making notifications under the reportable situations regime (formerly breach reporting). The updates to Regulatory Guide 78 Breach reporting by AFS licensees and credit licensees include:
- clarifying the circumstances in which licensees may group multiple reportable situations into one report to ASIC;
- new guidance on the information to include when licensees describe a reportable situation;
- new guidance for licensees on ASIC’s expectations when licensees are providing updates related to a reported breach; and
- minor changes to the prescribed form for lodging reportable situations.
Treasury proposes enhanced disclosure of subsidiary information
The Australian government announced a tax transparency measure for all listed and unlisted Australian public companies to disclose information of the name, legal form, percentage ownership, and country of tax domicile of each subsidiary (a “consolidated entity statement”).
Such disclosure would be additional to any requirements of Australian Accounting Standards. Because the consolidated entity statement would form part of the financial report, it would also be subject to audit.
Treasury’s consultation closed on 13 April 2023 and draft legislation is expected to be tabled in Parliament in due course.
International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) meeting – April 2023
The agenda and Board papers are available for the IASB meeting held on on 25 – 27 April 2023 when it continued discussion on the following topics:
- Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity
- Business Combinations under Common Control
- Application issues in applying the Equity Method
- Possible amendments to the ‘present obligation’ recognition criterion in IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets.
The Board also finalised the IFRS 16 IFRIC Agenda Decision regarding how to assess whether a contract contains a lease when the supplier has particular substitution rights.
IASB Supplementary meeting – April 2023
The IASB met on 11 April 2023 solely to consider feedback on its Exposure Draft International Tax Reform – Pillar Two Model Rules, which proposed amendments to IAS 12 Income Taxes.
The IASB decided to finalise its proposals to introduce a temporary exception to the requirements in IAS 12 for an entity to recognise and disclose information about deferred tax assets and liabilities related to Pillar Two income taxes.
The amendments are expected to be issued in May 2023 and will apply for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Update
At its meeting in April 2023, the ISSB tentatively decided to introduce a transition relief in IFRS S1 that would allow an entity to report on only climate-related risks and opportunities (as set out in IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures) in the first year it applies IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.
The entity would be required to provide information about its other sustainability-related risks and opportunities in the second year it applies the two Standards.
Consequently, entities would only be required to provide the disclosures required by IFRS S2 in the initial year of application. Furthermore, comparative information would not be required in the first year of adoption.
The ISSB expects to issue the two sustainability standards, IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, before 30 June 2023 for application to annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
While Australia is expected to implement a mandatory climate-related financial disclosure regime based on IFRS S2, at present the nature, timing, and extent of mandatory sustainability reporting for Australian entities is unclear.
Federal Budget 2023 - Live Webinar
Nexia Australia is hosting an online Budget briefing on Thursday 11 May at 10:30am – 11:30am AEST covering:
- Insights on the Government’s plans for providing cost-of-living relief without adding to inflation;
- Key announcements affecting businesses, business owners, and high net worth individuals;
- The Government’s broader economic agenda.
ATO Targeting Your Trusts - Live Webinar
Nexia Australia is hosting a live webinar on Tuesday 23 May at 10:30am – 11:30am AEST covering:
- The tax mischief anyone could engage in (and you might have without realising)
- The “ordinary family or commercial dealing” exception to s100A
- Are you in the ATO’s sights? When your circumstances fall into the ATO’s:
- Green zone
- Red zone
- “No-zone” void
- Consequences of each zone
- Can you still use a corporate beneficiary?
- Your trust-income appointment decisions ahead of 30 June 2023
- Past years’ decisions that might require mitigating action
- Next steps
