IFRS 9: Should Treasurers Act Now or Wait and See?
Just 52% of the responding corporate treasurers reported that they were aware of the content and impact of impending changes in the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), according to research, undertaken by IT2 Treasury Solutions, a provider of treasury management software to corporate treasuries and financial institutions. In Europe, IFRS 9, the standard for classifying and measuring financial instruments which was released in November 2009, will apply to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013.
Kevin Grant, chief executive officer (CEO) of IT2 Treasury Solutions, said: “In less than two years, corporate treasurers will have to respond to the onerous financial reporting requirements of IFRS 9. Within one year, the window of opportunity to take the benefits of early adoption will close. IFRS 9 may still be a work in progress, but its scope and adoption timetable strongly suggest that treasurers should be actively evaluating the requirements of compliance.”
IT2’s clients are already reporting that the calculation and data retention requirements for IFRS 9 compliance are demanding. Treasurers should be evaluating the costs and benefits related to the timing of their adoption – in the knowledge that they must adopt within two years, assuming that the present timetable is preserved. Early adopters of IRFS 9 will enjoy the benefit of not having to restate their accounting results retrospectively.
IT2’s client, Wilh Wilhelmsen, a global maritime industry group, endorses the benefits of early adoption. Pål Johan Aronsen, head of middle and back office (MBO) and cash management, Wilh Wilhelmsen, said: “In my opinion, the time to start working with the new regulatory requirements is now. Early preparation means that the necessary historic data needed for full compliance in January 2013 will be available. Companies that are not currently trying to understand and manage the impact of IFRS 9 will be confronted with a potentially substantial catch-up exercise sometime during the next two years.”