IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements prescribes key disclosures and requirements in relation to the notes to the financial statements, summarised as follows.
General entity and financial statement information
- An 'explicit and unreserved statement of compliance' with International Financial Reporting Standards
- A statement of the name of the entity, the reporting period covered in the report, the entity or entities) covered by the financial statements, the level of rounding used in the financial statements and the presentation currency
- Disclosure of accounting policies selected and used by management
- Disclosure of the judgements that management has made in the process of applying the entity’s accounting policies and that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements (for example – assumptions in goodwill impairment testing)
- Disclosure about the assumptions the entity makes about the future, and other major sources of estimation uncertainly at the end of the reporting period, that have a significant risk of resulting in a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities (e.g. credit impairment provision)
- Disclosure of the domicile and legal form of the entity, its country of incorporation and address of the registered office and principal place of business;
- A description of the nature of the entity's operations and its principal activities
- The name of the parent entity and the ultimate parent entity
Equity section
- Details of dividends paid or payable for each class of shares included in equity
- Information that enables the users to evaluate the entity's objectives, policies and processes for managing capital
- The amount of dividends proposed or declared before the financial statements were authorised for issue but not recognised as a distribution to owners during the period and the related amount per share and the amount of any cumulative preference dividends
- Detailed share capital disclosures such as: number of authorised shares, note about par value of shares, reconciliation of the number of shares between the beginning and end of the period; the rights attached to the shares
Additional for Australia
In addition to the disclosures specified by IAS 1, Australian reporters must make the following additional disclosures specified by AASB 1054 Australian Additional Disclosures. These disclosures are considered to be important information for reporting in the Australian jurisdiction:
- A statement that the accounts have been prepared in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards;
- The statutory basis or other reporting framework under which the financial statements have been prepared;
- Whether the entity is a for-profit or not-for-profit entity;
- Whether the statements are general purpose financial statements or special purpose financial statements;
- Various details of franking credits available in respect of franked dividends;
- The audit or review fees, and a description and amount of each type of other services performed
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