Beyond the GAAP - the monthly newsletter on financial and sustainability reporting
Each month, the newsletter Beyond the GAAP aims at keeping readers informed of financial and sustainability reporting developments.
Beyond the GAAP no.190 - July - August 2024
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) has now entered into force following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 5 July 2024. It must be transposed into national law by 26 July 2026. This major new directive, which establishes a corporate due diligence duty, will apply to around 6,000 European companies and around 900 non-EU companies. In other European news, this summer’s publications include an EFRAG study on initial ESRS implementation practices, which we look at in detail in a feature in this issue.
Beyond the GAAP no.189 - June 2024
In May, EFRAG issued some important documents to support large entities that are required to publish a sustainability statement under ESRS. EFRAG had first issued a compilation of explanations provided to At the end of May, the IASB published amendments to IFRS 9 and IFRS 7 on the classification and measurement of financial instruments, which are mandatory for financial periods commencing on or after 1 January 2026. In this issue, we look in detail at the content of these amendments, which introduce some changes and clarifications relating to financial liabilities settled using an electronic payment system, financial assets with contingent payment features, financial assets with non-recourse features, and contractually linked financial assets. They also require additional disclosures to be presented in the notes.
Beyond the GAAP no.188 - May 2024
In May, EFRAG issued some important documents to support large entities that are required to publish a sustainability statement under ESRS. EFRAG had first issued a compilation of explanations provided to stakeholders in response to questions posed on the Q&A platform opened last October. In addition to reproducing some of the answers already published, this compilation includes 44 new explanations on sometimes sensitive technical issues, such as how to determine the metrics required by ESRS.
Beyond the GAAP no.186 - March 2024
In last month’s issue, we looked at the three main topics covered by the draft amendments to IAS 32, IFRS 7 and IAS 1, as set out in the Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity (FICE) exposure draft. In this issue, we present the Board’s proposals on the other seven topics, including contingent settlement provisions, shareholder decisions and reclassification of financial instruments between financial liabilities and equity instruments. These two feature articles will provide our readers with a complete overview of the content of the exposure draft, for which the comment period ended on 29 March 2024.
Beyond the GAAP no.185 - february 2024
Last November, we reported the publication of an IASB exposure draft of proposed amendments to IAS 32, IFRS 7 and IFRS 1 on the classification of financial instruments with characteristics of equity (“FICE”).
In this issue, we present the IASB's proposals on three of the topics covered by these amendments:
1) how to account for rights and obligations arising from legal or regulatory requirements,
2) instruments that are settled in the entity's own equity instruments, and
3) obligations requiring the entity to purchase its own equity instruments (including puts on non-controlling interests).
In this issue, we present the IASB's proposals on three of the topics covered by these amendments:
1) how to account for rights and obligations arising from legal or regulatory requirements,
2) instruments that are settled in the entity's own equity instruments, and
3) obligations requiring the entity to purchase its own equity instruments (including puts on non-controlling interests).
Beyond the GAAP no.184 - January 2024
This month, sustainability reporting has again dominated the news, with the provisional agreement from the European Parliament to delay Commission adoption of the next sets of ESRS (namely sector-specific ESRS and ESRS for non-EU groups) by two years, i.e. by 30 June 2026 instead of 30 June 2024 as initially indicated in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Sector-specific standards in eight areas will nonetheless be published as soon as they are ready with respect to high-impact sectors. In January, EFRAG also issued its proposals regarding an ESRS for listed SMEs and a voluntary standard for non-listed SMEs.
Beyond the GAAP no.183 - December 2023
Happy New Year from everyone at Beyond the GAAP! The IASB work plan alone suggests that this new year will be a busy one on the accounting front. But the biggest new development in 2024 will be initial application of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), for the first companies falling within the scope of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) – i.e. large undertakings that are public-interest entities and that have more than 500 employees, as per the Accounting Directive.
Beyond the GAAP no.182 - November 2023
As 2023 year-end closing approaches, we present our traditional overview of the texts published by the IASB, taking account of their endorsement process at European level. This includes the latest developments concerning the European Union's endorsement of the IAS 12 amendments relating to OECD Pillar Two and the IFRS 16 amendments on lease liabilities arising from sale and leaseback transactions. The study also indicates which texts are mandatory and which are optional for this reporting period.
Beyond the GAAP no.181 - October 2023
At the end of October, the European Securities and Markets Authority, ESMA, published its common priorities at European level for the 2023 reporting period.
Beyond the GAAP no.180 - September 2023
In mid-September, the European Commission (EC) launched a consultation on a draft delegated act that proposes to increase by 25% the size criteria set out in the Accounting Directive to classify undertakings and groups into different categories (micro, small, medium and large), in order to reflect inflation over the past ten years. This change in the thresholds, presented as part of a plan to increase the competitiveness of EU companies, would reduce the number of undertakings affected by the obligation to present and publish financial statements and by the requirements on sustainability reporting introduced by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).