One of the constant concerns of organisations such as the IFRS is the continued strengthening and consolidation of IFRS standards. In fact, in his speech, last June, Hans Hoogervorst (Chair of the International Accounting Standards Board), in what should be the concern of an accountant, i.e. not to try to move or influence markets, but to describe economic reality faithfully and neutrally as possible, showed how this objective is difficult to achieve due to some vulnerabilities in accounting that arise from the mix of current and historical measurement techniques.
It is noteworthy how, in the last decade, the IASB has worked hard to reduce some of the vulnerabilities observed. Standards such as IFRS 9 or 15 have been implemented and developed to make them more robust and globally comparable. This quality has also been incorporated into IFRS 16, recognising all lease liabilities.
In deciding the importance of the issues to be addressed in the accounting world, the criteria are:
- Significance to Investors
- The existence of deficiencies in the way it is being reported
- The type of companies it is likely to affect and whether it is prevalent in certain jurisdictions.
- How important the issue is to companies
- The interaction with other projects
- The complexity and feasibility of the potential Project and its solution
- The ability of the Board and stakeholders to address the issue and provide a solution to it
Based on the above criteria, the projects of relevance to IFRS in the period 2022 -2026 are:
- Maintenance and consistent application project
- Projects to be investigated
- Projects in reserve
Intangible assets are among the projects to be investigated for 2022 -2026. According to Hans Hoogervorst, these assets are becoming increasingly crucial as value drivers for companies and are mainly outside the scope of current financial statements.
The standard related to these assets is International Accounting Standard 38.
