Are you ready for disclosure requirements based completely on objectives? – EFRAG Questionnaire for preparers
In response to stakeholders' feedback on an overall disclosure problem, the IASB published the Exposure Draft ("ED") Disclosure Requirements in IFRS Standards—A Pilot Approach. In the ED, the IASB proposes a new approach to developing disclosure requirements in individual Standards (proposed Guidance for the IASB) which requires a cultural change when preparing disclosures. Disclosure requirements would be objective based only. The IASB is testing the guidance by proposing new disclosure requirements for IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement and IAS 19 Employee Benefits by applying the proposed Guidance for the IASB.
In its Draft Comment Letter in response to the IASB's exposure draft, EFRAG recommended that a comprehensive outreach and field testing of the proposals are undertaken to assess the operational challenges for preparers. EFRAG also noted in its draft comment letter that the effects of the proposals may vary based on the diverse nature of entities. Feedback from less resourced entities when confronted with such an increased level of judgement, is paramount to assess the ED potential impacts.
As entities currently participating in fieldwork activities are generally large entities, EFRAG is issuing this questionnaire aimed at small and medium entities. Nonetheless, replies to the questionnaire by large entities are also welcomed.
The questionnaire is split between the general approach that the IASB would expect to use when drafting IFRS standards and the amendments to IAS 19 and IFRS 13. Respondents are encouraged to respond to all the questions but are not required to do so.
Completion of the questionnaire should take approximately 20-30 minutes. An overview of the ED as well as some illustrations are included within the survey, however, participants may be interested to read the ED (here) and/or the IASB's snapshot (here) to obtain a complete understanding of the ED.
A word version of the questionnaire is attached to this news item. Respondents may reply to the questionnaire through the online version here or by completing and sending the word document by email to disclosureinitiative-pilot@efrag.org.
EFRAG's questionnaire responses remain anonymous. Results will be published on an aggregated basis.
Should entities prefer to express their views on the ED through interviews, please send an email to disclosureinitiative-pilot@efrag.org. Interviews may be held in European languages other than English (e.g. Portuguese, Polish, Italian, Spanish).