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Additional Financial Reporting Issues: Chapter Outline
Additional Financial Reporting Issues: Chapter Outline
I. In addition to issues involving the accounting for foreign currency, three financial reporting
issues of international importance are: (a) accounting for changing prices (inflation
accounting), (b) accounting for business combinations and consolidated financial
statements, and (c) segment reporting.
II. Historical cost accounting in a period of inflation understates asset values (and related
expenses) and overstates income. Historical cost accounting also ignores the gains and
losses in purchasing power caused by inflation that arise from holding monetary assets
and liabilities.
III. Two methods of accounting for inflation have been used in different countries – general
purchasing power (GPP) accounting and current cost (CC) accounting.
A. Under GPP accounting, nonmonetary assets and stockholders’ equity accounts are
restated for changes in the general price level. Cost of goods sold and
depreciation/amortization are based on restated asset values and the net purchasing
power gain/loss on the net monetary liability/asset position is included in income. GPP
income is the amount that can be paid as a dividend while maintaining the purchasing
power of capital.
B. Under CC accounting, nonmonetary assets are revalued to current cost, and cost of
goods sold and depreciation/amortization are based on revalued amounts. CC
income is the amount that can be paid as a dividend while maintaining physical capital.
IV. IAS 29 requires the use of GPP accounting by firms that report in the currency of a
hyperinflationary economy. IAS 21 requires the financial statements of a foreign operation
located in a hyperinflationary economy to first be adjusted for inflation in accordance with
IAS 29 before translation into the parent company’s reporting currency.
V. Issues that must be resolved in accounting for a business combination relate to (a)
selection of an appropriate method, (b) recognition and measurement of goodwill, and (c)
measurement of minority interest.
A. IFRS 3 and US. GAAP both require the purchase method in accounting for business
combinations; the pooling of interests method is not allowed.
B. Goodwill is recognized on the consolidated balance sheet as an asset and tested
annually for impairment under both IFRS 3 and U.S. GAAP.
C. When less than 100% of a company is acquired, IFRS 3 requires the acquired assets
and liabilities to be recorded at full fair value and minority interest is initially measured
at the minority shareholders’ percentage ownership in the fair value of the acquired
company’s net assets. This is known as the economic unit or entity concept.
VI. IAS 28 and US. GAAP require use of the equity method when an investor has the ability to
exert significant influence over an investee; significant influence is presumed when the
investor owns 20% or more of the investee’s voting shares.
VII. In accounting for an investment in a joint venture, IAS 31 prefers the use of proportionate
consolidation, but also allows the equity method. The equity method is required under
U.S. GAAP.
VIII. Questions arise as to (a) when an investee should be considered a subsidiary and (b)
which subsidiaries should be consolidated when a parent company prepares consolidated
financial statements.
A. IAS 27 defines a subsidiary as an enterprise controlled by another enterprise known as
the parent. Control is defined as the power to govern the financial and operating
policies of an entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities. Control can exist
without owning a majority of shares of stock, for example, when one company has
power over more than half of the voting rights through agreements with other
shareholders.
1. Historically, U.S. companies have relied on majority stock ownership as evidence of
control.
B. IAS 27 requires a parent to consolidate all subsidiaries unless (a) the subsidiary was
acquired with the intent to dispose of it within 12 months and (b) management is
actively seeking a buyer.
1. U.S. GAAP requires all subsidiaries to be consolidated unless the parent has lost
control due to bankruptcy or severe restrictions imposed by a foreign government.
IX. The aggregation of all of a company’s activities into consolidated totals masks the
differences in risk and potential existing across different lines of business and in different
parts of the world. To provide information that can be used to evaluate these risks and
potentials, companies disaggregate consolidated totals and provide disclosures on a
segment basis. Segment reporting is an area in which considerable diversity exists
internationally.
XI. U.S. GAAP requires extensive disclosure to be made for operating segments, which can
be based either on product lines or geographic regions.
A. Disclosures should reflect what is reported internally to the chief operating officer, even
if this is on a non-GAAP basis.
B. If operating segments are not based on geography, revenues and long-lived assets
must be disclosed for (a) the domestic country, (b) all foreign countries in total, and (c)
for each foreign country in which a material amount of revenues or long-lived assets
are located. A quantitative threshold for determining materiality is not specified.
2. Non-monetary assets and non-monetary liabilities are restated for changes in the general
purchasing power of the monetary unit. Most non-monetary items are carried at historical
cost. In these cases, the restated cost is determined by applying to the historical cost the
change in general price index from the date of acquisition to the balance sheet date. Some
non-monetary items are carried at revalued amounts, for example, property, plant and
equipment revalued according to the allowed alternative treatment in IAS 16, “Property,
Plant and Equipment.” These items are restated from the date of the revaluation.
All components of owners’ equity are restated by applying the change in the general price
index from the beginning of the period or the date of contribution, if later, to the balance
sheet date.
Monetary assets and monetary liabilities (cash, receivables, and payables) are not restated
because they are already expressed in terms of the monetary unit current at the balance
sheet date.
All income statement items are restated by applying the change in the general price index
from the dates when the items were originally recorded to the balance sheet date.
The gain or loss on net monetary position (purchasing power gain or loss) is included in net
income.
3. Monetary assets (cash and receivables) give rise to purchasing power losses and monetary
liabilities (payables) give rise to purchasing power gains.
5. Current cost accounting generally results in a larger amount of nonmonetary assets, as well
as a larger amount of stockholders’ equity, being reported on the balance sheet. Expenses
based on the current cost of nonmonetary assets (carried at larger amounts) generally
results in a smaller amount of net income being reported under current cost accounting.
With smaller income and larger stockholders’ equity, return on equity measured under
current cost accounting is generally smaller than under historical cost accounting.
6. IAS 15, “Information Reflecting the Effects of Changing Prices,” required supplementary
disclosure of the following items reflecting the effects of changing prices:
1. the amount of adjustment to depreciation expense,
2. the amount of adjustment to cost of sales,
3. the amount of purchasing power gain or loss on monetary items,
4. the aggregate of all adjustments reflecting the effects of changing prices, and
5. if current cost accounting is used, the current cost of property, plant, and equipment.
The standard only applied to enterprises “whose levels of revenues, profits, assets or
employment are significant in the economic environment in which they operate,” and
allowed those enterprises to choose between making adjustments on a GPP or a CC basis.
Because of a lack of international support for inflation accounting disclosures, in 1989, the
IASC decided to make IAS 15 optional. However, the IASB encourages presentation of
inflation-adjusted information as required by IAS 15.
IAS 29, “Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies,” was issued in 1989 and
applies to the primary financial statements of any company that reports in a currency of a
hyperinflationary economy. IAS 29 requires the use of GPP accounting following
procedures outlined above in the answer to question 2.
IAS 21, “The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates,” requires application of IAS 29
to restate the foreign operation’s financial statements to a GPP basis. The GPP adjusted
financial statements are then translated into the parent company’s reporting currency using
the current rate method of translation. This approach is referred to as the restate/translate
method.
8. The concept of a group relates to a business combination in which one company obtains
control over another company but the acquired company continues its separate legal
existence.
10. Because of their extensive cross-ownership of companies, identifying the legal ownership
patterns of Japanese company groups (Keiretsu) can be extremely difficult.
11. IAS 27 requires a parent to consolidate all subsidiaries, foreign and domestic, unless (a)
control of the subsidiary is temporary because it is held with a view to its disposal in the near
future, or (b) the subsidiary operates under severe long-term restrictions that significantly
affect its ability to send funds to its parent. IAS 27 does not allow a subsidiary to be
excluded from consolidated financial statements solely because its operations are dissimilar
to those of the other companies that comprise the group. U.S. GAAP requires all
subsidiaries to be consolidated unless the parent has lost control due to bankruptcy or
severe restrictions imposed by a foreign government.
12. In some cases, two companies will jointly control another entity as a joint venture. IAS 31,
“Financial Reporting of Interests in Joint Ventures,” prefers proportional consolidation for
joint ventures (benchmark treatment), while equity accounting is allowed as an alternative.
The effect of the proportional consolidation method is to remove the “investment in joint
venture” account from the investor’s balance sheet and replace it with the proportion of all
the individual items that it represents. In contrast, the full consolidation method replaces the
“investment in subsidiary” account on the parent’s balance sheet with 100% of the value of
the subsidiary’s balance sheet items. If the parent owns less than 100% of the subsidiary, a
minority interest account is reflected on the parent’s consolidated balance sheet. There is
no minority interest reported under proportional consolidation.
Proportional consolidation is prohibited in the U.S. and the U.K., except for unincorporated
joint ventures. Instead, the equity method is used to account for investments in joint
ventures. In Germany, proportional consolidation was not allowed before the
implementation of the Seventh Directive, which permits its use for joint ventures. On the
other hand, proportional consolidation has been relatively common in both France and in the
Netherlands.
Under SFAS 131, companies must identify operating segments based on its internal
reporting system. Operating segments can be based on geography. Items disclosed by
operating segment under U.S. GAAP are the same as those items required to be disclosed
for the primary reporting format under IAS 14, with a few exceptions. U.S. GAAP does not
require disclosure of liabilities by segment, but does require disclosure of interest, taxes,
and unusual items (discontinued operations and extraordinary items). Whereas IAS 14
requires segment information to be presented in accordance with the company’s accounting
policies, SFAS 131 requires segment disclosures to be the same as what is reported
internally even if this is on a non-GAAP basis.
If operating segments are not based on geography, then companies must also
provide information about their foreign operations. Companies must disclose revenues and
long-lived assets for:
1. the domestic country,
2. all foreign countries in which the company derives revenues or holds assets, and
3. each foreign country in which a material amount of revenues is derived or long-lived
assets are held.
The SFAS 131 requirement to provide disclosures by individual foreign country is a
significant difference from IAS 14.
1. Sorocaba Company
Alternatively, the restated historical cost at December 31, Year 2 could be determined as
follows:
Ignoring depreciation, machinery and equipment would be reported on the balance sheet at:
12/31/Y1 $238,000
12/31/Y2 $270,000
2. Antalya Company
Subsidiary in Mexico
GPI
1/1/Y1 100
Average 105
12/31/Y1 110
a.
GPI
1/1/Y1 100
Average 115
12/31/Y1 130
a.
c. Both subsidiaries had the same profit margin and return on equity when these ratios were
calculated from unadjusted historical cost information. After adjusting for inflation, the
Mexican subsidiary appears to be substantially more profitable than the Venezuelan
subsidiary.
Name of % Voting
Company Rights IFRSs U.S. GAAP
Accurcast 100% Full consolidation Full consolidation
Bonello 45% Equity method – unless there is Equity method
evidence that Auroral exercises
effective control
Cromos 30% Equity method Equity method
Fidelis 100% Do not consolidate – fair value Do not consolidate – fair
method value method
Jenna 100% Full consolidation Full consolidation
Marek 40% Full consolidation Equity method
Phenix 90% Full consolidation Full consolidation
Regulus 50% Proportional consolidation or Equity method
equity method
Synkron 15% Fair value method Fair value method
Tiksed 70% Full consolidation Full consolidation
Ypsilon 51% Full consolidation Full consolidation
Sandestino Company
Income Statement
Year 1
Revenues $840,000
Expenses 475,000
Income before tax 365,000
Tax expense 105,000
Net income $260,000
Sandestino Company
Balance Sheet
December 31, Year 1
2. Equity Method
Sandestino Company
Income Statement
Year 1
Revenues $800,000
Expenses (450,000)
Equity in Grand Sand’s net income 10,000
Income before tax 360,000
Tax expense (100,000)
Net income $260,000
Sandestino Company
Balance Sheet
December 31, Year 1
Sandestino’s profit margin would be higher and its debt-to-equity ratio would be lower if it used
the equity method to account for its investment in Grand Sand.
The first step in determining which business segments must be reported separately is to
determine whether a majority of revenues are generated from external customers. As shown
below, this criterion is met by all segments other than C. Therefore, segment C will not be
reported separately.
The next step is to apply the three significance tests to determine whether the second criterion
for a reportable segment is met.
Of the five business segments that meet the criterion of having a majority of revenues from
external sources, only three segments meet at least one of the significance tests. Segments A,
B, and E will be reported separately; segments C, D, and F will be combined into Other
Segments. However, if total external revenues attributable to separately reportable segments is
less than 75% of total consolidated revenue, additional segments must be reported even if they
do not meet any of the significance tests.
Because A, B, and E collectively comprise more than 75% of total consolidated revenues,
segments C, D, and F will be combined.
Income taxes 30
Net income 60
Other information:
10 3,60
Segment assets 1,650 650 300 900 0 0
1,70
Segment liabilities 750 300 140 510 - 0
Capital 1 38
expenditures 200 50 20 105 0 5
Depreciation and 8 1
amortization 0 100 5 35 0 230
Schering’s Primary Reporting Format is geographic. The following table indicates the heading
used by Schering to report information required by IAS 14 for each reportable primary reporting
format segment:
IAS 14 also requires a reconciliation between the information disclosed for primary segments
and the aggregate information in the consolidated financial statements. Schering provides this
reconciliation; consolidated amounts are referred to as “Schering AG Group.”
When the primary reporting format is geographical segments, three items of information as
shown below should be provided for each business segment whose external revenues are 10%
of total external revenues or whose segment assets are 10% or more of total segment assets.
Geographical segments can be determined on the basis of where assets are located or on the
basis of where customers are located. If the primary reporting format is geographical segments
based on location of assets and customer location is different from asset location, the company
should disclose revenues from external customers for each customer-based geographical
segment that has 10% or more of total external revenues. If the primary reporting format
instead is geographical segments based on customer location and assets are located in
geographical areas different from customers, the company should disclose:
the carrying amount of segment assets for each asset-based geographical segment that
has 10% or more of total external revenues, and
capital expenditures during the period for each asset-based geographical segment that
has 10% or more of total capital expenditures.
In conclusion, Schering AG complies fully with the primary and secondary reporting format
requirements of IAS 14.
a. A commonly used measure of multinationality is the percentage of total sales that are
generated in countries other than the United States: Foreign Sales/Total Sales. This
ratio can be calculated for each company by subtracting U.S. sales from total sales and
then dividing by total sales:
IBM ($96,293 - $35,637) / $96,293 = 63.0%
Johnson & Johnson ($47,348 - $27,770) / $47,348 = 41.3%
General Motors ($193,517 - $134,380) / $193,517 = 30.6%
Based on this measure, IBM is the most multinational company among the three in
Exhibit 8.8.
a. A commonly used measure of multinationality is the percentage of total sales that are
generated in countries other than the home country: Foreign Sales/Total Sales. This
ratio can be calculated for each company by subtracting sales in Germany from total
sales and then dividing by total sales:
BMW (€44,335 – €11,961) / €44,335 = 73.0%
Volkswagen (€88,963 – €24,504) / €88,963 = 72.5%
Based on this measure, BMW is slightly more multinational than Volkswagen. Both
companies rely very heavily on sales made outside of Germany.
Note that the internationality of the two companies can be directly compared by
collapsing VW’s North America and South America segments into one region – America
– and by collapsing its Africa and Asia/Oceania segments into one region – Africa, Asia,
Oceania.
b. One way to measure international diversification is the extent to which sales are spread
out over different regions of the world. Column B in the table below shows that BMW’s
sales are more evenly spread over the four segments than are VW’s. Whereas VW
generates 72% of its sales in Europe including Germany, BMW generates only 63% of
its sale in Europe.
Volkswagen
Germany 24,504 27.5% 23,298 27.5% 5.2%
Rest of Europe 39,755 44.7% 35,723 42.1% 11.3%
America 17,257 19.4% 18,084 21.3% -4.6%
Africa, Asia, Oceania 7,447 8.4% 7,708 9.1% -3.4%
88,963 100.0% 84,813 100.0% 4.9%
Volkswagen experienced an overall increase in sales in 2004 of 4.9% (Col. E). The
pattern of revenue growth for Volkswagen is similar to that for BMW. Sales for VW also
grew in Germany and the Rest of Europe, with a decline in America and
Africa/Asia/Oceania. The largest year-to-year % decline was in America (Col. E).