ICAEW.com works better with JavaScript enabled.
Information for Better Markets

IFBM conference 2021: Accounting standards: the ‘too difficult’ box

Video recordings and academic papers from the 2021 Information for Better Markets conference.

Over ten years in the making, the publication of major new standards on revenue, leases, insurance and credit losses highlights the complexity and challenges of addressing accounting issues. Perceptions that other long-standing accounting issues, such as accounting for goodwill or inflation, remain unresolved appear to reinforce this point.

Why do accounting issues end up in the ‘too difficult’ box?

Professor Katherine Schipper, Duke University, looks at accounting issues and standards that have created key challenges and explores why these issues appear so difficult to resolve.

The response is from Hans Hoogervorst, former Chair of the IASB.

Insurance: in or out of the ‘too difficult’ box?

Professor Martin Grace, Temple University, considers insurance and why IFRS 17 has divided opinion.

The response is from Jo Clube, Aviva PLC.

Does every accounting issue need a solution?

Professor Thorsten Sellhorn, LMU Munich, explores the consequences of leaving an accounting issue unresolved, using IFRS 6 as an illustration, and the extent to which it matters.

The response is from Doug King, Deloitte.

The ‘too difficult’ box: the next big accounting issue?

Professor Mary Barth, Stanford University, looks at accounting issues on the horizon, including accounting for crypto-currencies and climate change.

The response is from Veronica Poole, Deloitte.