This seminar is for listed companies and other organisations that must use full IFRS.  If you are an unlisted company using UK GAAP and want to know about the new standard, IFRS for SMEs, then please click here.

Listed companies in the UK and other EU countries are obliged to prepare their consolidated accounts using International Financial Reporting Standards rather than national GAAP. UK companies which are not listed have a choice between IFRS and UK GAAP.  Some of them have chosen IFRS because their parent companies are listed and it is easier to adopt the same basis of accounting across all companies in the group.

Most of the new Accounting Standards issued in the UK during the last ten years have been drawn up with the intention of bringing UK GAAP closer to IFRS, although there have been no new Standards since December 2005. There remain many significant differences between UK GAAP and IFRS. This course highlights these differences and provides helpful advice for companies adopting IFRS for the first time. There is also an overview of the principal differences between IFRS and US GAAP.

After a period of stability, the IASB has introduced a number of changes to IFRS. They affect business combinations, intangible assets and segmental reporting amongst other matters. These changes are discussed on the course.

Finally, the course provides an outline of the new Standard for Small and Medium-Sized Entities. This Standard is discussed in fuller detail in another one-day seminar The Essential Guide to IFRS for SMEs.

The course answers the following questions:

• Which companies must use IFRS?
• If I have a choice, what are the advantages and disadvantages of IFRS?
• What does a set of IFRS financial statements look like?
• How does each Standard differ from its UK counterpart?
• What are the simplifications available for first-time adopters of IFRS?
• I have heard that IFRS considerably lengthens a company’s financial statements. In which ways do IFRS disclosure requirements differ from UK GAAP?
• What are the principal differences between IFRS and US GAAP?
• Can you explain the significance of IFRS for Small and Medium-Sized Entities?

The course provides practical examples demonstrating the differences between IFRS and UK GAAP.