Worldwide application of IFRS 3, IAS 38 and IAS 36, related disclosures, and determinants of non-compliance

The report investigates the accounting for, and information disclosed under, IAS 36, IAS 38, and IFRS 3, and examines compliance levels with the mandated disclosures and their determinants.

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ACCA research report 134

by

Ioannis Tsalavoutas 
Lecturer in Accounting, The University of Stirling

Paul André 
Professor of Accounting, ESSEC Business School, Paris Director ESSEC Financial Reporting Centre

Dionysia Dionysiou 
Lecturer in Finance, The University of Stirling

 

The uniform application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) across different jurisdictions has been heavily questioned, since the implementation of high-quality accounting standards (as IFRS claim to be) may not necessarily lead to high-quality reporting because of the influences of different socio-economic environments on financial reporting practices. This means that equal levels of compliance with mandatory disclosure requirements and/or consistent measurement and display of similar transactions between different companies may not be achieved.

This concern is investigated here, first, by examining the accounting for, and the information disclosed under, IAS 36 Impairment of Assets, IAS 38 Intangible Assets and IFRS 3 Business Combinations. Secondly, levels of compliance with these three standards’ mandated disclosures and their determinants are considered. These investigations involved a large sample of companies from different countries around the world.