|
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) wants to
make company reports more uniform globally and increase
discipline in how accountants present their findings.
The idea will be a central theme of a five-year plan presented
by IASB on Wednesday, as a period of intense rulemaking draws to
a close for the more than 100 countries that apply its
standards.
IASB Chairman Hans Hoogervorst said he wants to define the
format of a company's income statement, and some of the line
items and subtotals in the statement.
"None of these are defined by us and this is why we have a lot
of alternative performance measures as well," Hoogervorst told
Reuters. "We will go in the direction of requiring more
formatting, not just comparability of the bottom line, but above
the bottom line as well.
"There has been for years a huge demand from investors to do
this."
Better formatting of financial statements would also aid
electronic reporting and machine reading of financial
statements.
Included will be a clearer definition of "irregular" items in a
financial statement.
"We are going to look at ways to make it possible to present a
more persistent income stream with more discipline around it. If
you want to say something is irregular, then there must indeed
be evidence that it is irregular," Hoogervorst said.
The IASB also aims to finish work next year on a new accounting
rule for insurers, and complete a revision of its "conceptual
framework" or basic principles that underpin its standards.
(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Susan Fenton)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
