Discussion of ‘The impact of the adoption of IFRS 11 on the comparability of accounting information’

Abstract

Comparability of accounting information allows users of that information to detect and understand similarities and differences in the events and arrangements depicted in financial reports. Comparability is both a component of the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) standard-setting objectives and an enhancing qualitative characteristic of useful financial information in the IASB’s conceptual framework. With respect to comparability as a standard-setting objective, the Preface to International Financial Reporting Standards (para. 6(a)) states that the IASB’s objective is ‘to develop... a single set of high quality... globally accepted financial reporting standards... [that] require high quality, transparent and comparable information in financial statements... .’ The objective indicates that the standards whose application produces comparable information should perform this function globally, that is, in any jurisdiction that requires or permits the use of the IASB’s standards. With respect to comparability as a qualitative characteristic of useful accounting information, the IASB’s Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (the Framework) defines comparability as a property of reported information that ‘enables users to identify and understand similarities in, and differences among, items’ (IASB 2018, para. QC21). A condition for achieving comparability is that ‘like things must look alike and different things must look different’ (IASB 2018, para. QC 23). Put another way, similar accounting for similar items and different accounting for different items is the channel or mechanism for achieving comparable financial reporting information, and this feature should be invariant to the jurisdiction in which the reporting occurs.