ACRA commenced its 3rd cycle of review under the Financial Reporting Surveillance Programme (FRSP). This is a process where selected companies’ financial statements are reviewed for compliance with the prescribed accounting standards.
Corresponding to the review, ACRA has published the Guide on Review Procedures to share information on the FRSP review procedures with directors and management.
As a guide for directors in reviewing their company’s upcoming financial statements, Practice Guidance No. 1 of 2018 was issued by ACRA to highlight eight financial reporting areas that may require more attention by directors when approving the companies’ FY2017 Financial Statements.
These areas comprises impairment assessment (including reversals) of long-lived assets, recognition of one-off gain or loss, and business acquisitions. With a few major accounting standards becoming effective from 2018 and 2019, companies should also report more progressive known or reasonably estimable quantitative information in the FY2017 Financial Statements with the aim to help shareholders assess the possible impact from these new accounting standards.