The Easy-To-Overlook New Requirements Of IAS 7

With new major standards (IFRSs 9, 15, and 16) coming thick and fast, it might be easy to forget about other, newly effective requirements—notably IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows. To comply with IAS 7, companies must adhere to new disclosure requirements that may be easy to overlook. We find it particularly important not to do so, especially given that both the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) have stated that compliance with IAS 7 is in their main focus areas.

In January 2016 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) amended IAS 7 to require disclosures to be made that enable users of financial statements to evaluate "changes in liabilities arising from financing activities." The term financing activities is defined, in IAS 7, as "activities that result in changes in the size and composition of the contributed equity and borrowings of the entity."

The amendment is, specifically, paragraphs 44A-44E of IAS 7. The requirements include, but are not limited to, the following disclosures:

changes from financing cash flows...