Wiley International Trends in Financial Reporting under IFRS: Including Comparisons with US GAAP, Chinese GAAP, and Indian GAAP

CHAPTER 3

Presentation of Financial Statements (IAS 1)

1. OBJECTIVE

1.1 International Accounting Standard (IAS) 1, Presentation of Financial Statements, prescribes the basis for the presentation of “general-purpose financial statements” (defined later) in order to ensure comparability of the entity’s financial statements with previous periods and with financial statements of other entities.

1.2 It provides guidance on the general principles of preparation of financial statements, minimum disclosures and content of financial statements prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) (other than the “statement of cash flows,” guidance on which is prescribed in IAS 7, Statement of Cash Flows).

2. SYNOPSIS OF THE STANDARD

This summary of the Standard sets the overall requirements for the preparation and presentation of financial statements.

2.1 This Standard provides guidance on the fundamental principles of preparing financial statements such as going concern, accrual basis, materiality, offsetting, frequency of reporting, comparative information, consistency of presentation, fair presentation, and an explicit statement of compliance with IFRS. This Standard applies to “general-purpose financial statements,” which are defined by the Standards as “those intended to meet the needs of users who are not in a position to require an entity to prepare reports tailored to their particular information needs.”

2.2 A complete set of financial statements comprises

• A statement ...