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ANSWER IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING AUSTRALIA AFTER IFRS PERIOD The financial statements are required to be prepared in accordance with the accounting standards of the particular specific country. The IFRS has been laid down only to provide the more meaningful and useful information to the shareholders. In Australia, Australian Accounting Standard Board has been complying by the companies and Australia has been the first to adopt the IFRS in local government entities (Chua, 2012). The company that has been selected for the purpose of the identifying and discussing the implications from the adoption of the IFRS is Woolworths Limited. It is the company having headquarters in Australia and has been one of the top hundred ASX listed companies. The annual report for the financial year ending June 2005 and June 2006 have been considered and analysed. In accordance with the AIFRS 1 which deals with the first time of adoption the IFRS, the company has restated the figures of the year ending 2005 in the financial statements of the year ending 2006 as it is the relevant period after IFRS. The implications from the adoption of the IFRS are the following: -Comparability – The first implication that has been inferred from the adoption of the IFRS is that it ensures the comparability of the financial statements of the company across the globe. Prior to the year of 2005, there has been the compliance of different accounting standard which usually varies from the country to country. With the adoption of the IFRS the comparison will be easier. It will not be only for the inter company but also help in the intra company comparison (Bryce, 2015). For instance in the given case, now the financial statements of the competitor of the company – Wesfarmers Limited can be easily and meaningfully compared. It has thus impacted the presentation requirements that have been given in the AASB 101 relating to the presentation of the financial statements. The comparability will not be only for the figures as stated in the financial statements but also on the basis of the accounting policies as chosen by the company for instance for the property plant and equipment.
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-Reduction in the Equity – The adoption of the IFRS in the year 2006 has depicted that the equity of the previous financial year has been decreased. As per the annual report for the company for the year ending 2005, the equity that has been disclosed by the company is 2197.10 million dollar and while making the financial statements in accordance with the IFRS, it has been observed that the company has reported the equity of 2000.20 million dollar. It denotes that the adoption of the IFRS will always lead to decrease in the equity of the company. This has been majorly due to the decrease in the surplus of the company for the year ending 2005 as per the adoption of the IFRS (Woolworths Limited, 2006) . Particular2005 – Before IFRS2006 – After IFRS Equity2197.10 million dollarReported figure of 2005 in comparative data is 2000.20 million dollar. -Quality Reporting of Intangibles – As per the earlier Australian accounting GAAPS and standards, intangibles are usually amortized on the straight line basis and accordingly no impairment testing is done for the intangibles. But as per the IFRS, intangibles are required to be valued on the basis of the cost less the amount of the amortization and the impairment. The AASB 138 has prescribes the differences between the intangibles having the definite lives and the intangibles having the indefinite lives and accordingly have stated as to how the intangibles will be valued and carried in the books of accounts that too after the amortization and the impairment in accordance with AASB 136. Particular2005 – Before IFRS2006 – After IFRS Intangibles2011.40 million dollarReported figure of 2005 in comparative data is 2046.40 million dollar. The above table denotes that the intangibles have been valued in the year of 2006 financial statements as restated figure is the correct. It is because it is the value which has been arrived after charging the amortization and the impairment. It depicts that such information as
contained in the financial statements will be very useful for the analysts and the users of the financial statements as the presence of intangibles is considered as the positive point for the creation of the image of the company. -Accounting Quality – The accounting quality with the early adoption of the IFRS has been improved. It is because of the fact that the assets and the corresponding liabilities are now has been correctly reported (Chalmers, 2011). In the given case of the Woolworths Limited, the net equity has been correctly arrived similarly the intangibles and in the same manner the following table denotes for the Property plant and equipment. Particular2005 – Before IFRS2006 – After IFRS Propertyplantand equipment 3552.60 million dollarReported figure of 2005 in comparative data is 3359.30 million dollar. Thus, the above are the major implications that have been identified. REFERENCES Bryce, M.,., (2015), “Accounting quality in the pre-/post-IFRS adoption periods and the impact onauditcommitteeeffectiveness—EvidencefromAustralia”.Pacific-BasinFinance Journal,35, pp.163-181 Chalmers, K., (2011), “Changes in value relevance of accounting information upon IFRS adoption: Evidence from Australia”.Australian Journal of Management,36(2), pp.151-173 Chua, Y.L., (2012), “The impact of mandatory IFRS adoption on accounting quality: Evidence from Australia”.Journal of International Accounting Research,11(1), pp.119-146 WoolworthsLimited,(2006),“AnnualReport-2006”onlineavailableat https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/icms_docs/183553_Annual_Report_2006.pdf accessed on 23-05-2018