1. The Global Regulatory Infrastructure
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is an independent, private-sector body that approves and issues International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Its structural mission is to develop a single set of high-quality, understandable, enforceable, and globally accepted accounting standards to bring transparency, accountability, and efficiency to financial markets worldwide.
 
2. General Features of Financial Statements under IAS 1
IAS 1 (Presentation of Financial Statements) prescribes the basis for presenting general-purpose financial statements to ensure comparability both with the entity’s financial statements of previous periods and with the financial statements of other entities.
Mandatory Core Compliance Principles
  • Fair Presentation and Compliance: Statements must present fairly the financial position, performance, and cash flows of an entity by complying explicitly with all applicable IFRS standards.
  • Going Concern: Management must assess the entity’s ability to continue operating for at least 12 months from the reporting date.
  • Accrual Basis: Entities must prepare financial statements (except for cash flow information) using the accrual basis of accounting.
  • Materiality and Aggregation: Each material class of similar items must be presented separately. Items of a dissimilar nature or function must be presented separately unless they are immaterial.
  • Offsetting: Assets and liabilities, or income and expenses, cannot be offset unless explicitly required or permitted by another IFRS standard.
  • Reporting Frequency: A complete set of financial statements must be presented at least annually.

3. The Structure of a Complete Set of Financial Statements
Under IAS 1, a full corporate reporting package comprises:
  1. A Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet) as at the end of the period.
  2. A Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income (OCI) for the period.
  3. A Statement of Changes in Equity for the period.
  4. A Statement of Cash Flows for the period.
  5. Notes, comprising a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.

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