The Handbook to IFRS Transition and to IFRS U.S. GAAP Dual Reporting

7.4 REPORTING ENTITIES

7.4.1 Types of Entities

7.4.1.1 Privately versus Publicly Held Companies

Interim reporting under IAS 34 may concern any type of entity. In fact, IAS 34 chooses not to define which entities have to publish interim financial statements, although it encourages publicly traded entities to do so.57

Comment: This comes from the fact that IFRSs do not marry any special jurisdiction and therefore do not have to abide by, or take into consideration requirements of any specific government or securities regulator.

Planning Point: Therefore, under IAS 34, a nonpublic company may well decide to present interim financial statements. IAS 34 admits that an entity that is within its scope does not fall necessarily within the scope of IAS 33.58

Subtopic 270-10 (APB 28) does not limit its scope to publicly traded companies either. It modifies certain practices under U.S. GAAP for the purpose of the application to interim reporting.59 However, it does not mention whether circumstances exist under which a nonpublic company has to produce interim reports. As mentioned, it postulates minimum disclosure requirements, especially for those publicly traded companies that produce summarized interim financial information.

7.4.1.2 IFRS for SMEs

IFRS for SMEs scopes out reporting on an interim basis, segment reporting, and the presentation of earnings per share. Nevertheless, this fact does not entail that such companies are prohibited from issuing (and publishing) interim ...