INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS

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INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS

Objective of financial statements

A financial statement should reflect true and fair view of the business affairs of the organization. As these statements are used by various constituents of the society / regulators, they need to reflect true view of the financial position of the organization. and it is very helpful to check the financial position of the business for a specific period.

IFRS authorize three basic accounting models:

I. Current Cost Accounting, under Physical Capital Maintenance at all levels of inflation and deflation under the Historical Cost paradigm as well as the Capital Maintenance in Units of Constant Purchasing Power paradigm. (See the Conceptual Framework, Par. 4.59 (b).)
II. Financial capital maintenance in nominal monetary units, i.e., globally implemented Historical cost accounting during low inflation and deflation only under the traditional Historical Cost paradigm.(See the original Framework (1989), Par 104 (a))[now Conceptual Framework (2010), Par. 4.59 (a)].
II. Financial capital maintenance in units of constant purchasing power, i.e., Constant Item Purchasing Power Accounting CIPPA in terms of a Daily Consumer Price Index or daily rate at all levels of inflation and deflation (see the original Framework (1989), Par 104 (a)) [now Conceptual Framework (2010), Par. 4.59 (a)] under the Capital Maintenance in Units of Constant Purchasing Power paradigm and Constant Purchasing Power Accounting CPPA (see IAS 29) during hyperinflation under the Historical Cost paradigm.

The following are the three underlying assumptions in IFRS:
1. Going concern: an entity will continue for the foreseeable future under the Historical Cost paradigm as well as under the Capital Maintenance in Units of Constant Purchasing Power paradigm. (See Conceptual Framework, Par. 4.1)
2. Stable measuring unit assumption: financial capital maintenance in nominal monetary units or traditional Historical cost accounting only under the traditional Historical Cost paradigm; i.e., accountants consider changes in the purchasing power of the functional currency up to but excluding 26% per annum for three years in a row (which would be 100% cumulative inflation over three years or hyperinflation as defined in IAS 29) as immaterial or not sufficiently important for them to choose Capital Maintenance in units of constant purchasing power in terms of a Daily Consumer Price Index or daily rate [Constant Item Purchasing Power Accounting]]at all levels of inflation and deflation as authorized in IFRS in the original Framework(1989) , Par 104 (a) [now Conceptual Framework (2010), Par. 4.59 (a)].
Accountants implementing the stable measuring unit assumption (traditional Historical Cost Accounting) during annual inflation of 25% for 3 years in a row would erode 100% of the real value of all constant real value non-monetary items not maintained constant under the Historical Cost paradigm.
3. Units of constant purchasing power: capital maintenance in units of constant purchasing power at all levels of inflation and deflation in terms of a Daily Consumer Price Index or daily rate (Constant Item Purchasing Power Accounting) only under the Capital Maintenance in Units of Constant Purchasing Power paradigm; i.e. the total rejection of the stable measuring unit assumption at all levels of inflation and deflation. See The Framework (1989), Paragraph 104 (a) [now Conceptual Framework (2010), Par. 4.59 (a)]. Capital maintenance in units of constant purchasing power under Constant Item Purchasing Power Accounting in terms of a Daily Consumer Price Index or daily rate of all constant real value non-monetary items in all entities that at least break even in real value at all levels of inflation and deflation - ceteris paribus - remedies for an indefinite period of time the erosion caused by Historical Cost Accounting of the real values of constant real value non-monetary items never maintained constant as a result of the implementation of the stable measuring unit assumption at all levels of inflation and deflation under HCA.
It is not inflation doing the eroding. Inflation and deflation have no effect on the real value of non-monetary items[3]. It is the implementation of the stable measuring unit assumption, i.e., traditional HCA which erodes the real value of constant real value non-monetary items never maintained constant in a double entry basic accounting model.
Constant real value non-monetary items are non-monetary items with constant real values over time whose values within an entity are not generally determined in a market on a daily basis.
Examples include borrowing costs, comprehensive income, interest paid, interest received, bank charges, royalties, fees, short term employee benefits, pensions, salaries, wages, rentals, all other income statement items, issued share capital, share premium accounts, share discount accounts, retained earnings, retained losses, capital reserves, revaluation surpluses, all accounted profits and losses, all other items in shareholders equity, trade debtors, trade creditors, dividends payable, dividends receivable, deferred tax assets, deferred tax liabilities, all taxes payable, all taxes receivable, all other non-monetary payables, all other non-monetary receivables, provisions, etc.
All constant real value non-monetary items are always and everywhere measured in units of constant purchasing power at all levels of inflation and deflation under CIPPA in terms of a Daily CPI or daily rate under the Capital Maintenance in Units of Constant Purchasing Power paradigm. The constant item gain or loss is calculated when current period constant items are not measured in units of constant purchasing power.
Monetary items are units of money held and items with an underlying monetary nature which are substitutes for units of money held.
Examples of units of money held are bank notes and coins of the fiat currency created within an economy by means of fractional reserve banking. Examples of items with an underlying monetary nature which are substitutes of money held include the capital amount of: bank loans, bank savings, credit card loans, car loans, home loans, student loans, consumer loans, commercial and government bonds, Treasury Bills, all capital and money market investments, notes payable, notes receivable, etc. when these items are not in the form of money held.
Historic and current period monetary items are required to be inflation-adjusted on a daily basis in terms of a daily index or rate under the Capital Maintenance in Units of Constant Purchasing Power paradigm. The net monetary loss or gain as defined in IAS 29 is required to be calculated and accounted when they are not inflation-adjusted on a daily basis during the current financial period. Inflation-adjusting the total money supply (excluding bank notes and coins of the fiat functional currency created by means of fractional reserve banking within an economy) in terms of a daily index or rate under complete co-ordination would result in zero cost of inflation (not zero inflation) in only the entire money supply (as qualified) in an economy.
Variable real value non-monetary items are non-monetary items with variable real values over time. Examples include quoted and unquoted shares, property, plant, equipment, inventory, intellectual property, goodwill, foreign exchange, finished goods, raw material, etc.
Current period variable real value non-monetary items are required to be measured on a daily basis in terms of IFRS excluding the stable measuring unit assumption and the cost model in the valuation of property, plant, equipment and investment property after recognition under the Capital Maintenance in Units of Constant Purchasing Power paradigm. When they are not valued on a daily basis, then they as well as historic variable real value non-monetary items are required to be updated daily in terms of a daily rate as indicated above. Current period impairment losses in variable real value non-monetary items are required to be treated in terms of IFRS. They are constant real value non-monetary items once they are accounted. All accounted losses and profits are constant real value non-monetary items.
Under the Capital Maintenance in Units of Constant Purchasing Power paradigm daily measurement is required of all items in terms of
(a) a Daily Consumer Price Index or monetized daily indexed unit of account, e.g. the Unidad de Fomento in Chile, during low inflation, high inflation and deflation and
(b) in terms of a relatively stable foreign currency parallel rate (normally the US Dollar daily parallel rate) or a Brazilian-style Unidade Real de Valor daily index during hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is defined in IAS 29 as cumulative inflation being equal to or approaching 100 per cent over three years, i.e. 26 per cent annual inflation for three years in a row