by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jul 15, 2024 | Blog, News
As we discussed in last week’s blog, the Financial Reporting Council announced some important changes to FRS 102 in March 2024.
These changes are effective for accounting periods commencing 1 January 2026, with early adoption allowed. There were no lease accounting changes to FRS 105, but this article focuses on FRS 102. See last week’s blog for the Revenue Recognition changes to FRS 102.
Lease Accounting Changes
IFRS 16 first introduced an on-balance sheet model for lessees five years ago in 2019. FRS 102 is doing something similar now. Essentially, it means that companies will need to recognise a lease liability on the balance sheet and a corresponding right of use asset for those operating lease commitments that are currently expensed to the profit or loss.
The lease liability will be calculated using the present value of the company’s payment obligations over the remaining lease term based on a bank quotation for an interest rate for a right of use asset for the same amount.
There are recognition exemptions available for ‘low value’ or ‘short leases’ as well.
Implications of these changes
- Balance sheet – there will be an increase in total assets and total liabilities.
- Income statement – we are going to see amortisation charges for leases increase over the life of the lease unless the company is already measuring the respective asset categories on a ‘fair value basis’ where they will continue to do so using the effective interest rate.
- Operating lease expenses currently in the profit or loss will be replaced by a combination of depreciation plus finance lease interest expenses which will ultimately lead to an increase in EBITDA.
- Cash flow statement – the cash paid under the lease will remain the same, but the classification in the cash flow statement will lead to:
- An increase in cash flows from operating activities
- An increase in the outflows from financing activities
- Impact on financial ratios especially those linked to EBITDA, gearing, and net debt. Companies may need to examine more closely their:
- Debt covenants;
- Incentives; and
- other obligations that involve these EBITDA measures.
Other Disclosure Changes
Additional disclosures will also be required – both qualitative and quantitative information for lease commitments. Additionally, those companies that avail of the recognition exemption for ‘short term’ or ‘low value’ leases will need to disclose the precise details of the leases involved.
Simplification
There is a useful simplification to do with the use of discount rates. IFRS 16 requires the use of an ‘incremental borrowing rate’ (IBR), and this is where the rate implicit in the lease can’t be determined.
FRS 102 allows for the IBR too, but as an ‘easier’ alternative permits the use of an ‘obtainable borrowing rate’ (OBR) which is a much less complicated alternative. In cases where neither of these are available, FRS 102 allows for a gilt rate, but this is expected to be a rare occurrence.
Comparatives
The standard allows for the modified retrospective approach with regard to comparatives, meaning there is no need to restate comparatives.
Planning Ahead
Companies need to prepare in advance for the advent of the new FRS 102 leasing requirements by taking the following steps:
- Gather data on existing operating lease arrangements;
- Explore the implications of the potential discount rates that could be used;
- Start performing an initial impact assessment;
- Gauge what impact the leasing changes will have on their:
- Financial ratios;
- Primary statements;
- Balance sheet valuations; and
- Tax liabilities, not ignoring deferred tax.
See our webinar entitled ‘The Main Changes in Irish GAAP’ on the latest changes to FRS 102 here.
For more on the whole ISQM process for audit firms, please see our ISQM 1 Toolkit on our website here.
Please go to our website to see our:
- Anti-Money Laundering Policies Controls and Procedures Manual (March 2022) — View the table of contents
- AML Webinar (December 2023) available here, which accompanies the AML Manual. It explains the latest legal AML reporting position for accountancy firms and includes a quiz. Upon completion you receive a CPD certificate for attendance in your inbox.
- Letters of engagement and similar templates—Please visit our website here where immediate downloads are available in Word format. A bulk discount is available for orders of five or more items bought together.
- ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard, please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
- We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements. The ISQM TOOLKIT 2022 is available to purchase here.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jul 15, 2024 | Blog, News
In March this year the Financial Reporting Council announced some important changes to FRS 102.
These changes are effective for accounting periods commencing 1 January 2026, with earlier adoption allowed. There are also supplier finance arrangements which come into effect for accounting periods starting on 1 January 2025, but these are not common in SMEs, and so they will not be discussed in this blog.
Revenue Recognition Changes
The 5 Step model is being introduced into FRS 102 and is based on IFRS 16 and provides a structured approach, with appropriate simplifications in FRS 102. Revenue accounting changes were also announced to FRS 105, but this article focuses on FRS 102.
The basic scenario is to recognise revenue when promises are made regarding when the control of the goods and services is transferred to the customer, rather than when the risks and rewards are transferred.
Clients will need to:
- Review the contracts that they have with their customers to identify each promise and understand what they’ve promised to do.
- Determine a transaction price for each transaction then allocate the transaction price to each promise made under the contract.
- Recognise the revenue as and when the client satisfies each of the promises under the contract.
Likely Impact
The impact will vary depending on the company’s accounting structure, size, and complexity of their business as well as the industry that the client operates in.
For example, clients in the retail or hospitality industries usually have more straightforward contracts with simple promises e.g. the sale of consumables/services, and there may be minimal changes.
In other sectors such as software, technology or communications there might be more significant impact as contracts in these sectors tend to be more complex, involving various deliverables or long-term arrangements and, in some cases, they can have multiple promises.
A simplification in FRS 102 allows companies to combine similar contracts using a portfolio approach as opposed to recognising contracts on a contract-by-contract basis.
Likely Changes
The most likely impacts will be in areas like:
- Key performance indicators like EBITDA;
- Sales targets;
- Incentives or bonus structures that are linked to revenue, which may then have a knock-on effect on
- Negotiations with customers;
- Pricing strategies;
- Debt covenants; and
- Interest cover.
It will be necessary to consider the wider implications of this standard sooner rather than later. A detailed review (including a detailed review of sales contracts and revenue streams) on accounting policies, contract structures, and operations will be necessary.
See our webinar entitled ‘The Main Changes in Irish GAAP’ on the latest changes to FRS 102 here.
For more on the whole ISQM process for audit firms, please see our ISQM 1 Toolkit on our website here.
Please go to our website to see our:
- Anti-Money Laundering Policies Controls and Procedures Manual (March 2022) — View the table of contents
- AML Webinar (December 2023) available here, which accompanies the AML Manual. It explains the latest legal AML reporting position for accountancy firms and includes a quiz. Upon completion you receive a CPD certificate for attendance in your inbox.
- Letters of engagement and similar templates—Please visit our website here where immediate downloads are available in Word format. A bulk discount is available for orders of five or more items bought together.
- ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard, please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
- We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements. The ISQM TOOLKIT 2022 is available to purchase here.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jul 9, 2024 | Blog, News
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has recently issued a document called ‘Guidance Note for Core Funding Reporting Requirements Transitional Arrangements Year 1 and 2’ (“The Department Guidance Note”) to entities providing childcare and early education services. The document explains the transitional arrangements for the application for funding under a new funding model called ‘Together for Better’. These transitional arrangements will be in place for the years ended 31 August 2023 and 2024.
Reporting Regime
This reporting regime includes a requirement that the childcare service providers (“client”) engage a professional accountant to submit a document called an ‘Income and Expenditure Template.
The following is important to note:
- The report is to cover expenses incurred on a cash basis for the year ended 31 August 2023 and 1 August 2024.
- The requirement is for expenditure incurred in the relevant period only, no accruals or prepayments.
- Income will be pre-populated in the online platform.
- Where your client has a different year end, time apportionment is not permitted.
Important considerations for Accountants
- The accountant relies on information provided by the Service Provider, who is responsible for disclosing all relevant information.
- The Service Provider/client will make an online declaration on the platform provided by the Department that they have authorised the accountant to make the submission for them.
- Accountants are reminded of the relevant Code of Ethics issued by their professional body as regards avoiding conflicts of interest, independence, and avoiding making management decisions (among other threats).
- Accountants dealing with these grant claims will need to hold a practice licence and suitable professional indemnity insurance.
- If the accountant is also the Statutory Auditor of the entity Section 5.129 of the Ethical Standard for Auditors (2020) (issued by the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority) they are prohibited from providing accounting services where the services would involve the firm undertaking part of the role of management or initiating transactions.
The accountant should also refer to the Technical Alert Guidance documents issued by Chartered Accountants Ireland at TA 06/2023 Grant Claims and the International Standard on Related Service, ISRS 4400 (Revised) Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements, which give guidance on engagement acceptance and continuance and some general advice on arranging the terms of engagement.
Please also refer to our newly published templates in this regard for:
Both are available on our website for €60+VAT each.
For more on AML related matters go to:
For more on the whole ISQM process for audit firms, please see our ISQM 1 Toolkit on our website here.
Please go to our website to see our:
- Anti-Money Laundering Policies Controls and Procedures Manual (March 2022) — View the table of contents
- AML Webinar (December 2023) available here, which accompanies the AML Manual. It explains the latest legal AML reporting position for accountancy firms and includes a quiz. Upon completion you receive a CPD certificate for attendance in your inbox.
- Letters of engagement and similar templates—Please visit our website here where immediate downloads are available in Word format. A bulk discount is available for orders of five or more items bought together.
- ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard, please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
- We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements. The ISQM TOOLKIT 2022 is available to purchase here.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jun 30, 2024 | Blog, News
UK engineering group Arup faced one of the world’s biggest known deepfake scams in Hong Kong last January 2024. Arup employs about 18,000 people worldwide and has annual revenues of over £2bn. The company was duped by cyber criminals who virtually cloned a CFO using video, audio, and other AI generated material. (You can read the full article by the Financial Times here.)
The scam happened after one Arup employee received a fraudulent message about a “confidential transaction” from a sender who claimed to be the UK-based Chief Financial Officer. The Arup staff member scheduled a video conference and, unbeknownst to him, met with a digitally cloned version of the CFO (and other fake employees) requesting financial transfers. After the video conference, the Arup staff member made 15 transfers to five Hong Kong bank accounts before discovering the scam. Arup suffered HK$200mn ($25mn) in losses to the cyber criminals.
Arup’s global Chief Information Officer, Rob Greig, warned that deepfake scams have been rising in both number and sophistication, and companies should learn from Arup’s experience and always be on the lookout.
In case you missed last week’s blog, the company size thresholds have been increased for accounting periods commencing on 1 January 2024, with the option to implement the increase for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2023.
For a full list of the thresholds see our new publication here for €60+VAT.
For more on AML related matters go to:
For more on the whole ISQM process for audit firms, please see our ISQM 1 Toolkit on our website here.
Also, on our website we have:
- Letters of engagement and similar templates (all updated since May 2024) – Please visit our website here where immediate downloads are available in Word format here. A bulk discount is available for orders of five or more items bought together.
- ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard, please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements.
The ISQM TOOLKIT 2022 is available to purchase here.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Jun 30, 2024 | Blog, News
On 19 June 2024 the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke TD, signed into law the European Union (Adjustments of Size Criteria for Certain Companies and Groups) Regulations 2024 which increases the balance sheet and turnover thresholds for ‘micro’, ‘small’, ‘medium’ and ‘large’ companies in the Companies Act 2014 by 25 per cent.
For a full list of the thresholds see our new publication here for €60+VAT.
This means that more companies will become ‘micro’ and ‘small’ categories and qualify for audit exemption and the ability to abridge their financial statements.
The regulations apply to financial years commencing on/after 1 January 2024, with the option to apply them to financial years commencing on/after 1 January 2023.
For more on AML related matters go to:
For more on the whole ISQM process for audit firms, please see our ISQM 1 Toolkit on our website here.
Also, on our website we have:
- Letters of engagement and similar templates (all updated since May 2024) – Please visit our website here where immediate downloads are available in Word format here. A bulk discount is available for orders of five or more items bought together.
- ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard, please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements.
The ISQM TOOLKIT 2022 is available to purchase here.
