Effect Of Mandatory IFRS Adoption

Discuss about the Effect of Mandatory IFRS Adoption.

 

 

Introduction

A lease is a written agreement between owner of the property and a person or an entity who will use the said property for a specified period of time on a specified payment. Leases can be of shorter period and longer period as well where owner of the property is lessor and the person or business who is using the property is the lessee. The lease contracts involves a series of payments so the question arise that how the lease and its related payments or installments will be accounted by the lessee and lessor. FASB and IASB are about to issue a common reporting standard of financial accounting which will replace the US accounting rules (Cotter, 2012).

IFRS 16 introducing a single lessee accounting model and effective on or after 1 January 2019, for annual reporting periods and permission for earlier application of IFRS 15 has been granted. This lease standard is introduced with an objective to report the information which represents the lease transactions and supports by providing the basis to financial statement users in order to gage the value and vagueness of cash flows that arise from a lease. IFRS 16 has few transition provisions in the existing finance leases and operating leases where the financial leases will remain to be treated as finance leases and operating leases has the option for a full or a limited reflective restatement in relation to fulfill the requirements of IFRS 16 (Iasplus.com, 2017).

In the following assignment the new requirements of lease standard for both lessee and lessor as what changes it brings to the existing requirements. The effects on financial statement and a company who is listed in Singapore exchange and the company chosen for the same is Singapore Airline Ltd. Which is a world’s largest passenger aircraft.

Changes to Accounting Requirement

The introduction of IFRS 16 bring significant changes in lessee and lessor accounting but comparatively the changes are more in lessee accounting which is of great importance. However the changes in accounting for intermediate lessor, those who sublease assets through headlease and those particular headlease act currently as operating lease. This is done because the assets and liabilities come to the balance sheet and the classification of the sublease will be determined by taking the reference of intermediate lessor’s rights on the use of asset. And the implications for lessees are need to be discussed thoroughly as the percentage of change in accounting requirement are more to the lessee (Byard, and 2011).

Lessees who adopt IFRS 16 in their accounting have to make changes which are substantial in nature, likewise there will be no more division in between finance leases and operating leases as they are being eliminated and can adopt the current finance lease methodologies for all types of leases. Basically a single method model for all accounting, there are no changes made in the current rules about calculating the term of lease and it has decide by IASB whenever there are extension and termination options available. IASB has also allowed leases for a term of not more than 12 months and the exclusion has been made from the requirements of IFRS 16 for the leases who are of low value. The “low value” carries no such definition to it but does indicate the inclusion of tablet computers and laptops but cars are not included. The leases which are currently treated as finance leases by lessees in their accounting will be the same there are such changes made therein until and unless lessee guarantee the residual position of lessor (Ey.com., 2017).

Nonetheless, currently the accounting for leases as operating leases will be changed for the affected lessees and the changes are:

• In the balance sheet of lessee there will be an asset and a liability;
• Depreciation and interest will replace the current straight line rental expense.

Evidently, the asset of lessee represent their rights of use of the underlying leased asset and the liabilities of the lessee will represent the obligation of lessee to pay future rentals for the outstanding tenure of the lease.

The principles of accounting for finance leases will be the same, apparently the lease amount in lessee’s initial balance sheet with a residual value position will be lower than the full payout lease. The current operating leases experience the change in accounting where the acceleration of lessee’s recognition of expense can be seen. The depreciation will be straight line and the interest cost will be charged initially due to which the expense lines will be affected in the income statement, the companies who are using EBITDA and related performance measures will experiences changes. The real estate leases which are treated as operating leases currently will have more impact in their accounting after the introduction of IFRS 16. The leasing companies and banks will be positioned as lessees. The tangibility and intangibility of assets for capital adequacy purposes of the right of use asset on a bank’s balance sheet is still not resolved (Öztürk, and Serçemeli, 2016).

There are no such changes seen in lessor accounting except the additional disclosures it will require. For many of intermediate lessors there are few changes who subleases the asset taken from headlease and that particular headlease is currently seen as operating lease. If the product structures are transformed and lessors offers service contract in place of leases than lessor will require accounting changes. From the point of view of lessor there is a minimum difference between the accounting of hard asset service contracts and operating leases (Www2.deloitte.com, 2017). The changes in accounting for the service element of leases which was introduced by IFRS 15 will be handled by lessors.

Effects on Financial Statements

This newly launched lease standard IFRS 16 abolished the arrangement of leases for a lessee namely operating leases or finance leases. Leases are to be capitalized after recognizing the net present value of the lease payments by showing them as ROUA or may be together with the property or plant and equipment. A company may recognize financial liability which represents its compulsion to pay in future when the lease payment are made over time (Pwc.de, 2017).

The major impact of the new requirement in IFRS 16 in lease assets and financial liabilities are the increases and for the companies having material off balance sheet leases the change occur will be seen in key financial metrics which is consequent to the company’s assets and liabilities, examples would be the leverage ratios. The key elements of the new standard and its effect on financial statement will be the replacement of model ‘Risks and rewards’ to Right-of-use model and at the inception of the lease, lessee is required to recognize the asset and liabilities (Ifrs.org, 2017).

The determination of lease term will require judgment, earlier it was not needed before an operating lease. With the reference of the lease term estimated all the lease liabilities are measured based on it. While measuring the lease assets and liabilities when these assets and liabilities depend on the rate, or an index or on the fixed payment, the contingent rentals or inconstant lease payments need to be included in it. A lessee must re-evaluate the lease terms when they spot occurrence of any significant event or a change in such situations where the lessee can have the control (Ifrs.org, 2017).

Effects on Balance Sheet

The consequence of IFRS 16 on company’s balance sheet is considered by IASB will be for companies who have incognito leverage leases, the new-fangled lease standard will result into an increase in the lease assets and financial liabilities. The carrying amount of lease assets will reduce more than the carrying amount of lease liabilities. This ultimately result into decrease in reported equity comparatively in IAS 17 for the companies having incognito leverage leases. It is alike to the effect on equity that arise from financing the asset purchase and it can be from balance sheet or a loan (Invigorsexecbriefings.com, 2017). The new standard requires company to report on the balance sheet lease assets and liabilities but does not include short-term leases and low value lease assets. IASB expects improvement in the comparability of financial information by IFRS 16 with an intention to recognize assets and liabilities with importance of all leases and measure those assets and liabilities in the way they are being recognized. Through a lease the rights and liabilities are being recognized that re obtained and incurred respectively (Home.kpmg.com, 2017).

The effects that are considered by IASB by IFRS 16 will have on income statement of company is the recognition of the expense which are related to individual as well as portfolios of leases, the appearance of the expenses related to leases see the change and few other effects. The companies who have assets and liabilities which does not appear on the company’s balance sheet leases are expected to show the results in high profit before interest and tax, depreciation and amortization (Hussey, 2017). Whereas operating profit and finance costs also increase but not with the same percentage and profit before tax will be stable. As per new lease standard the implicit interest in lease payments for material off balance sheet will form a part of finance cost which was earlier was part of operating expenses. The figure hereunder shows the effect on income statement:

IFRS 16 needs a said company to categorize the cash payments for principle portion and interest portion of lease liabilities under the head financing activities and to other interest paid respectively. The new lease standard when adopted will increase operating cash outflows and decrease in financing cash outflows. After applying IFRS interest will also be included (Pwc.com, 2017).

Effect on Singapore Airlines Limited

All lease contracts under IFRS 16 will be on the balance sheet of the lessee and the estimation made on the same suggests the change it brings along with will add obligations to the balance sheets of airlines all over the world (Lavi, 2016). The introduction of IFRS have a greater impact on Singapore Airlines Ltd if the new lease standard will be adopted in their financial reporting framework. All leases on the balance sheet will be recognized and resulting it will be accounted for new assets and liabilities. It will impact on the company’s reported profit, debts, gearing ratios, EBITDA and return on capital employed. Also when the lease liability will be retranslated at every reporting date in profit and loss account it lead to increase in demand for lease rentals and lessors will have to respond on the same (laws, A., fly?, I. and Hong Kong as an aircraft financing and leasing hub: BEPS, F, 2017). A hypothetical example has been given here under to show the impact on financial statement of Singapore Airlines Ltd if the company adopt IFRS 16 in their lease accounting.

As per the given financial statements the comparability has been shown in between IAS 17 and IFRS 16. There is an instant increase in lease assets and lease liabilities of the company after adopting the new lease standard whereas equity has seen a drop after applying IFRS 16 in their financial reporting. IFRS 16 does not require the presentation of lease assets and liabilities on the balance sheet. In income statement after applying the lease standard the company sees higher EBITDA because no expense related to lease are included and operating profit also shown an increase due to the inclusion of the portion of expenses only. Looking at the profits for the year there is a slight decrease found out as company hold a portfolio of leases which does not have a starting and ending in the same year. The impact on cash flow statement is not on the total cash flows but on the net cash flows from operating activities and financing activities which are showing an increase after applying IFRS 16. The company has reports interest within the operating activities (Chen, and Khurana, 2017).

Conclusion

The introduction of IFRS 16 has given a scale of changes in the financial instruments, lease accounting and the revenues to the listed companies. It has been observed that the new requirements of the standard brings major changes in the lease accounting requirements and for those companies who lease their most of the assets in their operations will experience the increase in their reported assets and liabilities. It affects variety of sectors and in this report the effect on Singapore Airlines limited has been shown as they have a larger portfolio so the impact on their financial metrics are greater too.

References

Byard, D., Li, Y., & Yu, Y. (2011). The effect of mandatory IFRS adoption on financial analysts’ information environment. Journal of accounting research, 49(1), 69-96.

Chen, L. H., & Khurana, I. K. (2017). The Impact of IFRS versus US GAAP on Audit Fees and Going Concern Opinions: Evidence from US-Listed Foreign Firms.

Cotter, D. (2012). Advanced financial reporting: A complete guide to IFRS. Financial Times/Prentice Hall.

Ey.com. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. Available at: https://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-leases-a-summary-of-ifrs-16/$FILE/ey-leases-a-summary-of-ifrs-16.pdf [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].

Home.kpmg.com. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. Available at: https://home.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/05/SG-Issue54-april2016.pdf [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].

Hussey, R. (2017, May). Leasing of Assets: A Content Analysis of Comment. In GAI International Academic Conferences Proceedings (p. 23).

Iasplus.com. (2017). IFRS 16 — Leases. Available at: https://www.iasplus.com/en/standards/ifrs/ifrs-16 [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].

Ifrs.org. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. Available at: https://www.ifrs.org/-/media/project/leases/ifrs/published-documents/ifrs16-project-summary.pdf [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].

Ifrs.org. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. Available at: https://www.ifrs.org/-/media/project/leases/ifrs/published-documents/ifrs16-effects-analysis.pdf [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].

Invigorsexecbriefings.com. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. Available at: https://www.invigorsexecbriefings.com/invigors/downloads/IFRS_16_Leases_160127.pdf [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].

Lavi, M. R. (2016). The impact of IFRS on industry. John Wiley & Sons.

laws, A., fly?, I. and Hong Kong as an aircraft financing and leasing hub: BEPS, F. (2017). How will the Aviation Industry be affected by IFRS 16? | Expert Insights | Berwin Leighton Paisner. Blplaw.com. Available at: https://www.blplaw.com/expert-legal-insights/articles/how-will-the-aviation-industry-be-affected-by-ifrs-16 [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].

Öztürk, M., & Serçemeli, M. (2016). Impact of New Standard" IFRS 16 Leases" on Statement of Financial Position and Key Ratios: A Case Study on an Airline Company in Turkey. Business and Economics Research Journal, 7(4), 143.

Pwc.com. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. Available at: https://www.pwc.com/id/en/publications/assets/IFRS%20NewsFlash%20-%20IFRS%2016%20Leases.pdf [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].

Pwc.de. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. Available at: https://www.pwc.de/de/newsletter/kapitalmarkt/assets/in-the-spotlight-airlines.pdf [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].

Www2.deloitte.com. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/sg/Documents/audit/sea-audit-IFRS-16-guide.pdf [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].