Accounting Standards Council Singapore (ASC) Issues New Amendments

Accounting Standards Council Singapore (ASC) Issues New Amendments

The Accounting Standards Council Singapore (ASC) recently issued several amendments to the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (International) (SFRS(I)s) and Financial Reporting Standards (FRSs). These include annual improvements to SFRS(I)s 2015-2017 Cycle, effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019; and improvements to FRSs (March 2018), effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. Improvements to FRSs, issued in March 2018, added paragraph 42A whereby an entity shall apply those amendments to business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual reporting period beginning on or after 1 January 2019.

Earlier application is permitted. If an entity applies those amendments earlier, it shall disclose that fact. In addition, the ASC has issued non-mandatory guidance on Singapore Financial Reporting Standard for Small Entities (SFRS for Small Entities). This issue is on accounting for financial guarantee contracts in individual or separate financial statements of issuer. Improvements to FRSs, issued in March 2018 amended paragraph 14 and added paragraph 28A. An entity shall apply those amendments for annual reporting periods, beginning on or after January 2019. Earlier application is permitted if an entity applies those amendments earlier, it shall disclose that fact.

 

Singapore Financial Reporting Standard for Small Entities

SFRSs set out recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure requirements dealing with transactions and other events and conditions that are important in general purpose financial statements. They may also set out such requirements for transactions, events and conditions that arise mainly in specific industries. SFRSs are based on the Framework, which addresses the concepts underlying the information presented in general purpose financial statements.

The objective of the Framework is to facilitate the consistent and logical formulation of SFRSs. It also provides a basis for the use of judgment in resolving accounting issues. While the ASC will track closely the introduction of new IFRS for possible application in Singapore, it will also take into account the local economic and business circumstances and context, as well as the classes of entities to which the accounting standards would apply to.