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Assessing when one entity controls another is essential to the preparation of financial statements in accordance with IFRS. The control assessment determines which entities are consolidated in a parent’s financial statements and therefore affects a group’s reported results, cash flows and financial position – and the activities that are ‘on’ and ‘off’ the group’s balance sheet. Under IFRS, this control assessment is accounted for in accordance with IFRS 10 ‘Consolidated financial statements’.

We begin this first edition of IFRS News 2017 by considering the ESMAs recent public statement on the implementation of IFRS 9 ‘Financial Instruments’. We then look amendments that the IASB has recently made to its Standards and some proposals which are in its pipeline.

This publication is designed to give Chief Financial Officers a high-level awareness of recent changes to International Financial Reporting Standards that will affect companies’ future financial reporting. It covers both new Standards and Interpretations that have been issued and amendments made to existing ones.

This final edition of IFRS News looks at amendments to IFRS 4 ‘Insurance Contracts’. We also look at the European and Securities Market Authority’s (ESMA) common enforcement priorities for 2016 financial statements, which contain information that will be of interest to companies all around the world.

Our Belfast based Forensic and Investigation Services team, led by Paul Jacobs, comprises a diverse range of services including forensic accountancy and digital forensics.

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with IFRSs is challenging. Each year new Standards and Amendments are published by the IASB with the potential to significantly impact both the presentation of the primary statements and the accompanying disclosures.

The IASB and FASB have issued their new Standard on revenue recognition – IFRS 15 ‘Revenue from Contracts with Customers’ (ASU 2014-09 in the US). For companies with real estate development, property management or construction activities, IFRS 15 replaces several familiar standards and provides significant new guidance in a number of key areas.

Ambitious technology firms must pay attention to a country’s innovation tax regime. It will have important future effects for both innovation and talent as the business grows.

The wider hotel sector as we know it is shifting dramatically. There has been a flurry of multi-billion dollar M&A activity in recent months, as well as new entrants to the market. Looking further ahead, commentators look at technology giants such as Google and Amazon and ask if, or when, they will use their extensive consumer insight to further disrupt the sector.

IFRS News is your quarterly update on all things relating to International Financial Reporting Standards. We’ll bring you up to speed on topical issues, provide comment and points of view and give you a summary of any significant developments.

Research has shown that there has been a discernible shift by Governments in the focus of taxation from direct to Indirect Taxes. Most Governments believe that Indirect Taxes have less of a negative impact on economic growth than direct taxes and VAT rate increases are viewed as less inflammatory than income tax increases.

This Publication illustrates condensed interim financial statements for a six month accounting period beginning on 1 January 2016. It is intended to illustrate the ‘look and feel’ of IFRS interim financial statements and to provide a realistic example of their presentation.

When it comes to personalisation many hotel groups remain uncertain how to proceed. They have not embraced technologies that store and retrieve previous booking and stay information, which can provide considerable data and insight into what guests want. And rarely do they interact with guests through mobile.

Your annual financial statements are a critical communication to your investors and other stakeholders. But how effective are they in meeting your stakeholders’ needs?

While IFRS 9’s mandatory effective date of 1 January 2018 may seem a long way off, companies really need to start evaluating the impact of the new Standard now. As well as compiling the information necessary to implement the Standard, companies will need to review loan covenants and other agreements that could be affected by the impact on reported results.

Private operating companies seeking a ‘fast track’ stock exchange listing sometimes arrange to be acquired by a smaller listed company (sometimes described as a ‘shell’ company). This usually involves the listed company issuing its shares to the private company shareholders in exchange for their shares. How should these transactions be accounted for? The IFRS Viewpoint gives you our views.