IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets


contingent liabilities

FRS 102 Section 21 sets out the requirements that apply to provisions, https://intuit-payroll.org/free-receipt-templates-18-samples-pdf-word/ and contingent assets that are not covered by other sections of the standard. IAS 37 defines and specifies the accounting for and disclosure of provisions, contingent liabilities, and contingent assets. An example is the work GAD carried out around the government’s indemnity to nuclear operators for personal injury liabilities 10 to 30 years after an incident. The CLCC, using loss estimates provided by GAD, advised government departments on practical ways of dealing with these contingent liabilities. This included fair allocation of risk and reward between private sector insurers and the government.

Contingent liabilities are possible obligations whose existence will be confirmed by uncertain future events that are not wholly within the control of the entity. An example is litigation against the entity when it is uncertain whether the entity has committed an act of wrongdoing and when it is not probable that settlement will be needed. This report describes what contingent liabilities are and why it is imperative that these risks are well understood and managed.

Global sustainability standards

Likewise, it is unlikely that an entity will be able to avoid recording a liability when there is an obligation by claiming there is no way of producing an estimate of the amount. The main rule to follow is that where a single obligation is being measured, the best estimate will be the most likely outcome. If the provision being measured involves a large number of items, such as a warranty provision for Prepaid Expenses Examples, Accounting for a Prepaid Expense repairing goods, the expected value should be calculated using the probability of all possible outcomes. Clearly this is not good for the users of the financial statements, as they would have been given a false impression of the performance of the business. This article will consider the aims of the standard, followed by the key specific criteria which must be met for a provision to be recognised.

The legal advisors believe that there is an 80% chance that the counter claim against the manufacturer is likely to succeed and believe that Rey Co would win $8m. It can be seen here that Rey Co could only recognise an asset from a potential inflow if the realisation of income is virtually certain. (b) Past event

The obligation needs to have arisen from a past event, rather than simply something which may or may not arise in the future. (a) Type of obligation

The obligation could be a legal one, arising from a court case or some kind of contractual arrangement. Model accounts and disclosure checklists for UK GAAP

The ICAEW Library can provide model accounts and disclosure checklists for FRS 101, FRS 102, FRS 102 Section 1A, FRS 103 and FRS 105.

Provide advice and analysis on new contingent liability proposals

Similarly, Rey Co would not provide for any possible claims which may arise from injuries in the future. That is because there is no past event which has created an obligation and any possible claims could be avoided by implementing new safety measures or selling the factory. This rule has two parts, first the type of obligation, and second, the requirement for it to arise from a past event (ie something must already have happened to create the obligation). The Library provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. EBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users.

  • The Library provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers.
  • During her career, she has held several leadership roles, including global head of private placement at NatWest Markets/ RBS and, prior to that, head of private debt at ABN Amro.
  • This would be achieved by replacing the fixed liability limit with a variable one, using a number of risk criteria to determine a limit which reflects the specific risk in each case.
  • Rey Co could not provide for any possible claims which may arise from injuries in the future.

For some ACCA candidates, specific IFRS® standards are more favoured than others. IAS® 37 appears to be less popular than other standards because, usually, answers to Financial Reporting (FR) questions required a balanced discussion of whether criteria are met, as opposed to calculating numbers. However, IAS 37 is often a key standard in FR exams, and candidates must be prepared to wrestle with applying the criteria.

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This can create potential liabilities that are uncertain but might lead to future expenditure if specific conditions are met or specific events happen. In this case, Rey Co would include a provision for the $10m legal provision in liabilities. Even though there is a similar likelihood that Rey Co would win the counterclaim, this is a probable inflow and therefore only a contingent asset can be recorded. This will be disclosed in the notes to the financial statements rather than being recorded as an asset in the statement of financial position. Whilst this seems inconsistent, this demonstrates the asymmetry of prudence in this standard, that losses will be recorded earlier than potential gains.

Rey Co’s lawyers have advised that it is probable that the entity will be found liable. Rey Co would have to provide for the best estimate of any damages payable to the employee. This is because the event arose in 20X8 and, based on the evidence available, there is a present obligation. Even if the country that Rey Co operates in has no legal regulations forcing them to replant trees, Rey Co will have a constructive obligation because it has created an expectation from its publications, practice and history. The accountant knows that if Rey Co reports a profit of $13m, directors will not get any more of a bonus than if they reported $10m. To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today.

Exploring the UK government’s contingent liabilities, 2022 Report

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