There has been a steep fall in the financial penalties levied on accounting firms and auditors over the past year, down from £32m to £11.3m, with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) making greater use of constructive engagement to address issues regarding poor work or breaches of standards

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued two exposure drafts proposing amendments to UK and Ireland accounting standards, in order to clarify issues when reporting either going concern issues or rent concessions

The insurance contracts standard requires important choices to be made that can have significant impact on company financial statements creating volatility in results, and need to reflect commercial practices, argue Shasat’s Michael Winkler and Sunil Kansal FCA

In July’s international accounting updates, Jeroen Van Doorsselaere considers what investors want from the financial instruments accounting standards and analyses feedback on proposals for the transition from IBOR to alternative reference rates

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has issued amendments to IFRS 17, Insurance Contracts, including a two-year deferral of the start date, to address concerns and implementation challenges identified following its introduction in May 2017

With incidences of food and agriculture companies misreporting the fair value of their biological assets, Gabriel Thoumi, director of financial markets at Planet Tracker, explores the environmental and financial ramifications of misleading reporting within the sector

As the IASB returns to a new normal, Jeroen Van Doorsselaere reviews the ongoing annual cohorts debate in the insurance contracts standard and underlines renewed focus on the importance of management commentary

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published minor amendments to FRS 101 Reduced Disclosure Framework to improve consistency in cashflow reporting, along with proposed amendments for FRS 102 – Interest rate benchmark reform (Phase 2)

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has issued an amendment to IFRS 16 Leases to make it easier for lessees to account for Covid-19-related rent concessions such as rent holidays and temporary rent reductions

The next liquidity crisis could already be here, as financial institutions grapple with expected credit losses in the wake of Covid-19, while the IASB’s interest rate benchmark reforms cannot be delayed, explains Jeroen Van Doorsselaere

The European Commission has announced a relaxation of banking accounting rules to ensure that lenders can continue to extend loans to companies struggling during the Covid-19 crisis, in a bid to ensure a coordinated EU response and avoid national fragmentation

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has begun consulting on proposals to update the IFRS for SMEs standard, which include consideration of whether and how to align the simplified accounting standard for small and medium-sized entities with full IFRS standards

Accountancy firms and their clients are having to adopt alternative working methods to deal with financial year end requirements, relying on virtual meetings and IT solutions to meet deadlines in light of covid-19. Philip Smith reports 

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is planning to amend three key accounting standards - IFRS 9 Financial Instruments, IFRS 16 Leases and the not yet issued IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts - as a result of proposed interbank lending rate (IBOR) reforms

The Bank of England has set out details of how the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) will work for listed FTSE companies, which opened to new applications from 23 March