IFRS For Dummies
by Steve Collings
IFRS For Dummies
Published by
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
The Atrium
Southern Gate
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 8SQ
England
E-mail (for orders and customer service enquires): cs-books@wiley.co.uk
Visit our Home Page on www.wiley.com
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex, England
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS, UK, without the permission in writing of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, England, or emailed to permreq@wiley.co.uk, or faxed to (44) 1243 770620.
Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The contents of this work are intended to further general scientific research, understanding, and discussion only and are not intended and should not be relied upon as recommending or promoting a specific method, diagnosis, or treatment by physicians for any particular patient. The publishe, the author, AND ANYONE ELSE INVOLVED IN PREPARING THIS WORK make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. In view of ongoing research, equipment modifications, changes in governmental regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to the use of medicines, equipment, and devices, the reader is urged to review and evaluate the information provided in the package insert or instructions for each medicine, equipment, or device for, among other things, any changes in the instructions or indication of usage and for added warnings and precautions. Readers should consult with a specialist where appropriate. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. No warranty may be created or extended by any promotional statements for this work. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any damages arising herefrom.
For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.
For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-119-96308-0 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-96652-4 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-96653-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-96654-8 (ebk)
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Author
Steve Collings, FMAAT FCCA, is the audit and technical director at Leavitt Walmsley Associates, a firm of Chartered Certified Accountants based in Sale, Manchester in the United Kingdom. Steve trained and qualified with the firm, for which he is also Senior Statutory Auditor. He qualified with the Association of Accounting Technicians in 2000 and then went on to qualify as an Associate Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) in 2005. In 2010, he became a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA). Steve also holds the Diploma in IFRS from ACCA which he obtained in 2008, as well as their Certificates in IFRS and Certificates in International Standards on Auditing.
Steve specialises in financial reporting and auditing issues, and has been writing professionally for several years. He is the author of The Interpretation and Application of International Standards on Auditing (published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in March 2011) and of other publications on the subjects of UK accounting standards, International Financial Reporting Standards and International Standards on Auditing. He is also the author of several articles which have been published in the various accounting media, primarily AccountingWEB.co.uk. Steve also lectures to professional accountants on financial reporting, auditing and Solicitors Accounts Rules.
Steve won Accounting Technician of the Year at the British Accountancy Awards in November 2011.
Authors Acknowledgments
Many people believe that writing and producing a book is a one-person project. Believe me, it is anything but! I have been writing about accounting and auditing issues for many years now but writing IFRS For Dummies has proved to be one of the biggest (but best) challenges I have faced. My most sincere thanks and gratitude must therefore go to the Commissioning Editor, Claire Ruston, who helped to get this project off the ground. There has not been one instance where I have not enjoyed writing this book, and it has been an absolute pleasure to write.
Every author of a book needs a strong and supportive publishing team behind them and I feel honoured to have people like Steve Edwards (my project editor), Charlie Wilson (my development editor), and Caroline Fox (my technical reviewer) to have worked with during the writing of this book. My heartfelt thanks and gratitude must go to these guys as well as the other guys on the publishing team who have helped to bring this book to market.
The support I have received from my family and friends over the years does not go unnoticed, especially when deadlines are approaching and the pressure kicks in (you all know who you are). My thanks also must go to Les Leavitt, my friend and colleague, who has shown a huge amount of enthusiasm and support for this project and accommodated my deadlines in with work projects.
Finally my thanks go to you, the reader who has picked up this book. I sincerely hope you find it informative, helpful and a good reference guide to the world of IFRS. Keep it close to hand to guide you through complex issues on IFRS and IAS.
Dedications
I am fortunate to know so many influential and special people, both in my personal and professional life, and to name every individual who has influenced my career and writing would be impossible. For every member of my family and each one of my friends (many of whom feature in the illustrative examples in this book), this book is for you. I would also like to dedicate this book to all my peers in the world of financial reporting (particularly Roger Bryant, Lisa Weaver, Clare Finch and Annette Smyth).