The preparation of financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (‘IFRS’) is challenging. Each year, new Standards and amendments are published by the International Accounting Standards Board (‘IASB’) with the potential to significantly impact the presentation of a complete set of financial statements.
These Example Financial Statements are based on the activities and results of Illustrative Corporation and its subsidiaries (‘the Group’) – a fictional consulting, service and retail entity that has been preparing IFRS consolidated financial statements for several years. The form and content of IFRS financial statements will always depend on the activities and transactions of the reporting entity. Our objective in preparing these Example Financial Statements is to illustrate one possible approach to financial reporting by an entity engaging in transactions that are typical across a range of non-specialist sectors. However, as with any publication of this type, these example financial statements cannot envisage every possible transaction and therefore cannot be regarded as comprehensive. Management as defined by the IASB, is ultimately responsible for the fair presentation of financial statements and therefore they may find other approaches more appropriate for its specific circumstances.
These Example Financial Statements have been updated to reflect changes in IFRS that are effective for the year ending 31 December 2021. No account has been taken of any new developments after 31 October 2021.
Telling the COVID Story
Reporting the impact of COVID-19 global pandemic in the financial statements will, for many reporting entities, still be a challenge. Preparers of financial statements will need to think about how, where and in what form they should report COVID-19 in their financial statements in light of IFRS as they currently exist. We believe it is important to not only comply with the guidance set out in IFRS, but also ensure the financial statements are an effective part of any wider communication the entity intends to share with its stakeholders. COVID-19 was the main focus of the financial statements for reporting entities in 2020, be it positive or negative, and has continued to remain prominent this year, so financial statements with an annual reporting date in 2021 should be prepared with this in mind.
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