Commercial companies listed on the stock exchange are obliged to adopt the international financial reporting standards (IFRS), as established by Order no. 881/2012 of the Ministry of Public Finance. Since then, several innovations have appeared in IFRS legislation that can put even an experienced specialist in difficulty, if he is not well informed.
The transition to these standards involves important changes in a company's financial reporting system, so it is essential that the legislation is understood correctly.
Read what international financial reporting standards are, what they are and why an entrepreneur needs to be aware of them.
International Financial Reporting Standards: What are they?
The International Financial Reporting Standards, known in English as International Financial Reporting Standards (hence the acronym IFRS) are a set of accounting standards. They provide relevant data on the keeping, organization and management of accounting for the presentation of annual financial statements. All listed companies in the European Union are required to prepare consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS.
According to IFRS standards, covered companies must report their financial results and financial position using the same rules. Commercial companies in our country whose securities are admitted to trading (Bucharest Stock Exchange) are obliged to apply the International Financial Reporting Standards when drawing up their annual financial statements. It is important to remember that these companies have the obligation to ensure the continuity of IFRS application, even when their securities are no longer admitted to trading on a regulated market at the balance sheet date.
Who has the obligation to apply IFRS?
Although the first targeted are the companies whose securities are traded on a regulated market, they are not the only categories that have the obligation to apply IFRS. Also targeted are credit institutions, entities authorized, regulated and supervised by the ASF that operate on the capital market and certain companies with state capital (which apply IFRS as the basis of accounting as of 2018).
Non-bank financial institutions (NFIs) will prepare and publish individual annual financial statements in accordance with IFRS, starting from 1 January 2023.
List of International Financial Reporting Standards
The following standards are currently in force:
IFRS 1 Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards for the first time
IFRS 2 Share-based payment
IFRS 3 Business Combinations
IFRS 4 Insurance contracts
IFRS 5 Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations
IFRS 6 Exploration and evaluation of mineral resources
IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures
IFRS 8 Operating segments
IFRS 9 Financial instruments
IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements
IFRS 11 Joint Ventures
IFRS 12 Presentation of existing interests in other entities
IFRS 13 Fair value measurement
IFRS 14 Deferral accounts related to regulated activities
IFRS 15 Revenue from contracts with customers
IFRS 16 Leases
IAS 1 Presentation of financial statements
IAS 2: Inventories
IAS 7: Statement of cash flows
IAS 8: Accounting policies, changes in accounting estimates and errors
IAS 10: Events subsequent to the reporting period
IAS 11: Construction contracts
IAS 12: Income tax
IAS 16: Tangible assets
IAS 17: Leasing contracts
IAS 18: Revenue
IAS 19: Employee benefits
IAS 20: Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance
IAS 21: The effects of changes in foreign exchange rates
IAS 23: Borrowing costs
IAS 24: Presentation of related party information
IAS 26: Accounting and reporting of pension plans
IAS 27: Consolidated and individual financial statements
IAS 28: Investments in associates
IAS 29: Financial reporting in hyperinflationary economies
IAS 31: Interests in joint ventures
IAS 32: Financial instruments: presentation
IAS 33: Earnings per share
IAS 34: Interim financial reporting
IAS 36: Impairment of assets
IAS 37: Provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets
IAS 38: Intangible assets
IAS 39: Financial instruments: recognition and measurement
IAS 40: Investment property
IAS 41: Agriculture
The scope of applicability of international financial reporting standards could widen in the coming years. One of the targeted categories is the IFNs that give mortgage loans, which starting January 1, 2023, will have the obligation to produce financial statements in accordance with IFRS.