The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) has
released its long-anticipated proposal for the future of reporting
requirements in the UK and Ireland.
The paper was deferred until the International
Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) IFRS for SMEs was published so
it could be considered as part of the proposals.
The ASB has proposed a differential reporting
regime based on public accountability.
The proposal takes a three-tier approach:
• Tier 1 – publicly accountable entities would
apply IFRS as adopted by the EU.
• Tier 2 – all other UK entities other than
those who can apply the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller
Entities (FRSSE) could apply the IFRS for SMEs.
• Tier 3 – small entities could choose to
continue to apply the FRSSE.
Entities within Tier 2 and Tier 3 would have
the option of using EU-adopted IFRS if they wished; those in Tier 3
would have the option of using IFRS for SMEs.
The consultation paper asks whether
constituents would prefer to retain the current legal definition of
public accountability, which implies that all large entities are
publicly accountable.
It also investigates the impact of the
proposals on not-for-profit entities.
Deadline for comment is 1 February 2010.