Developing an International Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting & Optimal Level of Disclosu

You have recently been appointed as a Chief Financial Officer in BP plc and have realised that the board of directors require in-depth understanding of Conceptual Framework for Financial reporting, Disclosure requirements and IFRS 15 (Revenue from contracts with customers).

They are aware that the international Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the FASB have done extensive work in improving existing frameworks and converging them into a common framework, leading to the current Conceptual Framework for financial reporting.

Write a report to the Board critically discussing the need to develop an agreed international conceptual framework and the extent to which it can be used to resolve practical accounting issues. (25 marks)

The Board members are also divided on the concept of “Disclosure”. They are all advocates of an overarching framework that will make financial statement disclosures more effective. However, majority of them believe that excessive disclosure is burdensome and can be ineffective for users. Whiles the others believe that there is no such thing as excessive information for users.

Critically evaluate the need to ensure optimal level of disclosure in annual reports, discussing the reasons why users of annual reports may find disclosure to be excessive in recent years .(15 marks)   

1. Discuss the barriers BP plc may face in a bid to reduce excessive disclosure in their annual reports
2. The introduction of IFRS 15 (Revenue from contracts with customers) have had a significant impact on the financial statements of many companies including BP plc. IFRS 15 significantly reduces the entity’s discretion to apply judgement when recognising revenue. Supporters argue that it is an improvement on the old revenue standards, which provided limited revenue recognition guidance and led to divergence in practice.
3. You are required to critically discuss in your report the main weaknesses in the old revenue standards which led to the introduction of IFRS 15 (Revenue from contracts with customers). (20 marks)
4. Critically evaluate the ways in which IFRS 15 attempts to remedy the disadvantages of the previous standards on revenue.(15 marks)

You may also find useful information by searching function in the ACCA webpage (www.accaglobal.com)

Submission Criteria:

Your submission must meet all the following criteria

You must present this work in a report format

Your work must be submitted electronically via Turnitin by the due date and time (you will have to seek for Course Leader’s approval if extension is required, not module leader nor the tutor).

1. Submission type: Check and comply with the assessments schedule in your Module Study Guide (MSG).
2. Be adequately proofread prior to submission and should not contain significant errors of spelling and grammar.
3. Plagiarism is not acceptable in this report
4. Ensure that font style is either Arial or Times New Roman and font size is 12 for body text. Font size of headings and subheadings should be consistent. Please refer to those academic journals you have read if you are not sure about the font and presentation.
5. Ensure that (in paragraph) line spacing is 1.5 and alignment is justified.
6. Do not exceed the word count limit

Failure to meet any of the above criteria may result loss of marks; or disciplinary proceedings in the case of suspected plagiarism / cheating. 

Please do not purchase articles from others, it is likely to be a plagiarism which worth ZERO mark.