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US GAAP versus IFRS - Interim financial reporting - Ernst & Young - United States

US GAAP versus IFRS

Interim financial reporting

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Similarities

ASC 270, Interim Reporting, and IAS 34, Interim Financial Reporting, are substantially similar except for the treatment of certain costs described below. Both require an entity to apply the accounting policies that were in effect in the prior annual period, subject to the adoption of new policies that are disclosed.

Both standards allow for condensed interim financial statements and provide for similar disclosure requirements. Neither standard requires entities to present interim financial information.

That is the purview of securities regulators such as the SEC, which requires US public companies to comply with Regulation S-X.

Significant differences


 US GAAPIFRS
Treatment of certain costs in interim periodsEach interim period is viewed as an integral part of an annual period. As a result, certain costs that benefit more than one interim period may be allocated among those periods, resulting in deferral or accrual of certain costs.Each interim period is viewed as a discrete reporting period. A cost that does not meet the definition of an asset at the end of an interim period is not deferred, and a liability recognized at an interim reporting date must represent an existing obligation. Income taxes are accounted for based on an annual effective tax rate (similar to US GAAP).

Convergence

As part of the joint financial statement presentation project, the FASB will address presentation and display of interim financial information in US GAAP and the IASB may reconsider the requirements of IAS 34. This phase of the project has not started.


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