A Practical Guide to UK Accounting and Auditing Standards

A Practical Guide to UK Accounting and Auditing Standards

Unlike any other content in the market, this book aims to be a practical one-stop-shop which takes the theory contained in the accounting and auditing standards and shows how to put it into practice with the help of examples, case studies and real-life excerpts from financial statements.

Its aim is not only to inform practitioners what the new standards say, but to interpret the meaning, and show the impact of these differences on a balance sheet.

This product is also a useful companion to UK Financial Statements: Presentation and Disclosure Requirements (also authored by Steve Collings); whilst UK Financial Statements focuses on how disclosures should look, this content focuses on recognition, measurement and auditing. Whilst both books are practical in nature, A Practical Guide to UK Accounting and Auditing Standards is structured like a workbook with an emphasis on how credits and debits are reflected on balance sheets.

Readers will also be interested in the All change for quality management article published here in April 2023

Steve Collings FCCA

Steve Collings FCCA is a director at Leavitt Walmsley Associates, Chartered Certified Accountants based in Sale, Cheshire where he trained and qualified. Steve is the author of several titles for Bloomsbury Professional including Group Accounts under UK GAAP, Financial Reporting for Unlisted Companies in the UK and Republic of Ireland and Financial Statements: Presentation and Disclosure Requirements. Steve has close connections with various professional bodies producing authoritative material, articles and courses and represents the Association of Accounting Technicians on the CCAB and Technical Partners Committee at the Financial Reporting Council.

FRC issues update to the periodic review

On 29 September 2023, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) issued a project update on its periodic review of UK and Ireland accounting standards.

FRED 82 Draft amendments to FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland and other FRSs – Periodic Review was published on 15 December 2022 and comments on this Exposure Draft closed on 30 April 2023.

Among other amendments, FRED 82 proposes significant changes in the areas of lease accounting (but not for FRS 105 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the Micro-entities Regime) and revenue recognition (for both FRS 102 and FRS 105). It is doubtful that the FRC will abandon these significant proposals and have confirmed in their project update that they are continuing work in these areas. Notably, for on-balance sheet lease accounting, the FRC are reconsidering how the model is proportionate and understandable for preparers of financial statements under FRS 102. For example, by perhaps clarifying the scope of the recognition exemption for leases of low-value assets.

In respect of the changes to revenue recognition and the introduction of a five-step model approach similar to that in IFRS® 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers, the FRC have received support for the proposals. However, there is some concern about the proportionality of the amendments in FRS 105. In this respect, the FRC are continuing to work on the five-step model approach to revenue recognition in light of the feedback they have received and are seeking further simplifications to ensure the revenue recognition principles in FRS 105 remain proportionate.

Effective date

The FRC originally planned to require the amendments arising from the periodic review to be effective for periods commencing on or after 1 January 2025. This date has now been delayed so the amendments arising from the periodic review will not have an effective date before 1 January 2026. The FRC expect to publish the final amendments to FRS 102 and other FRSs in the suite of UK and Ireland GAAP in the first half of 2024.