Dignity

Intangible assets - disclosure of impairments

Businesses are currently facing a number of challenges, such as uncertainty surrounding Brexit and a sluggish economy. The retail sector in particular is experiencing a higher level of impairments (and, for some, going concern issues) as they contend with slow sales, high business rates and plenty of competition. Tougher economic conditions generally lead to increased risks of impairment, particularly for intangible assets such as goodwill.

In the technical findings from the Financial Reporting Committee’s 2017/18 Corporate Reporting Review, published in October 2018 (FRC technical findings 2018), impairment was one area highlighted where additional information was often requested and disclosures did not always contain all the required information.

When writing this report the latest 2017 and 2018 financial statements of 20 UK listed companies were selected at random for review of the impairment-related disclosures, focussing on intangible assets. It was ensured that a variety of industries such as retail, IT services and tourism and leisure were included.

Disclosure of the impacts of IFRS 16 "Leases"

IFRS 16 “Leases” will fundamentally change accounting by lessees as it requires assets previously off balance sheet under operating lease arrangements to be brought on balance sheet as is currently the case for finance leased assets. As a result on application companies will recognise both additional assets and additional liabilities. Consequently there will also be knock on effects in the income statement as operating lease charges are replaced by a depreciation charge and a finance expense. This report analyses the financial statements of a range of companies to firstly establish whether there has been any early adoption and secondly to establish what companies are disclosing in respect of IFRS 16 and its future impacts.