Dual Reporting for Equity and Other Comprehensive Income under IFRS and U.S. GAAP

7 OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

7.1 TERMINOLOGY

7.1.1 Comprehensive Income Versus Total Recognized Income and Expense

Comprehensive income is a well-established term in U.S. GAAP pronouncements. Total recognized income and expense for the period has long been a substantially equivalent term under IFRSs.

Comment: The different terminology comes from a different approach to elements of financial statements (see Section 7.2.3 later). In fact, contrary to the U.S. Concepts, the IASB Framework does not mention or define comprehensive income.¹

However, the 2007 revision of IAS 1 finally uses both the term comprehensive income and total comprehensive income and amends IFRSs consistently. Pending the Joint Conceptual Framework Project, the IASB Framework does not adopt such terminology yet.

Comment: As part of the Financial Statement Presentation Project, initially called Performance Reporting Project, the IASB initially adopted the U.S. terminology in its 2003 model.² Although during the initial meetings the respective terminologies were used interchangeably until a final decision was taken,³ later during the project the IASB rejected the term comprehensive income, on the basis of the inconsistency with the IASB Framework and with IFRSs.⁴ However, the 2007 revision of IAS 1 adopted this term, in order to converge with U.S. GAAP and in view of the suggestions of many respondents to the Exposure Draft and the rejection of the alternative terminology of recognized income and expense. In ...