The International Accounting Standards Board has issued a request for information seeking suggestions on what amendments need to be made to International Financial Reporting Standards for Small and Medium-sized Entities.
The request for information represents the IASB’s first step in its initial comprehensive review of IFRS for SMEs. The objective is to seek public views on whether there is a need to make any amendments to the IFRS for SMEs and, if so, what amendments should be made. The deadline for responses is Nov. 30, 2012.
When the IASB originally issued IFRS for SMEs in July 2009, the board said it would assess the first two years’ experience that entities have had in implementing the stripped-down set of standards. The IASB also said that, after the initial review, it expected to consider amendments to IFRS for SMEs approximately once every three years.
The IASB’s SME Implementation Group worked closely with IASB staff to develop the request for information. The SMEIG approved and submitted its final draft to the IASB for review with a recommendation for issuing the Request for Information.
The request for information asks specific questions about particular sections of IFRS for SMEs, along with general questions about respondents’ experience with it. Respondents are encouraged to raise any other issues that they want to put forward. The document does not contain any preliminary views of the IASB or the SMEIG.
“Millions of small companies in around 80 jurisdictions are already using the IFRS for SMEs,” SMEIG chairman Paul Pacter said in a statement. “It is becoming a passport to raise capital on a local or cross-border basis. This comprehensive review will enable the board to fine-tune the standard.”
The request for information may be downloaded without charge from the IASB’s Web site. To view the document and submit a comment letter,
The IASB plans to publish its final revisions to IFRS for SMEs in either the second half of 2013 or the first half of 2014, with a target date of 2015 for the effective date of any revisions.
