You have recently been appointed as a graduate accountant in a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Top 200 (ASX200) Telstra, and are currently reporting to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The CFO of Telstra has been asked to participate in a focus group organized by the AASB on whether standard-setters should reconsider the recognition and measurement of intangible assets. You are to research and comment on these issues and present your findings as follows:
Prepare a business report to update the CFO on the reporting of Intangible Assets which will serve as a foundation for the company’s upcoming engagement with the AASB.
Your business report needs to be concise and informative. In preparing your report, you should investigate a range of issues:
(i) Explain whether Telstra uses a mixed measurement approach or a single measurement approach to measuring intangible assets including the possible reason(s) behind this approach. For this part, you need to refer to the 2019 annual report of Telstra.
(ii) Critically evaluate the current accounting treatment for the recognition and measurement of intangible assets under AASB standards. Consider this in light of the objective of general purpose financial reporting. Support your discussion with reference to theories covered in this unit, academic journal articles, and where relevant high quality professional articles and newspapers.
(iii) Provide a recommendation on the future direction the AASB should take in regards to the recognition and measurement of intangible assets which your CFO can take to the Board of Directors. Support your recommendation with reference to theories covered in this unit and academic journal articles.
