Objectives
You can find the new External Reporting Board (XRB) website here www.xrb.govt.nz
The overall objectives of the Board are to contribute to the improvement and the quality of external financial reporting in the public and private sectors for the benefit of users and to assist prepares and auditors of financial reports.
In addition, the Board is responsible for facilitating the harmonization of New Zealand and Australian standards. The Board focuses on specific aspects of proposed standards and where any proposals differ from standards issued by the AASB of the International Accounting Standards Board SQLIO (IASB), requires a satisfactory explanation for the difference.
The harmonization process has been enhanced by attendance at regular meetings of the standard setters on both sides of the Tasman, and by the formal invitations to the Chairman of the Board and the Australian Financial Reporting Council to attend each others meetings.
The Board also seeks to ensure harmonization of accounting practices between the public and private sectors in New Zealand. Both sectors are subject to the Board’s jurisdiction.
Introduction
This Statement of Intent of the Accounting Standards Review Board (ASRB) has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of s.138-149 of the Crown Entities Act. The purpose of the Statement of Intent is to promote the public accountability of the ASRB by:
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Enabling the Crown to participate in the process of setting the ASRB’s medium term
intentions and undertakings; -
Setting out for the House of Representatives those intentions and undertakings; and
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Providing a base against which the ASRB’s actual performance can be assessed.
Because the ASRB is an Independent Crown Entity, the Minister may not direct the ASRB to have regard to or give effect to a government policy.
In accordance with s145 of the Crown Entities Act, the ASRB has consulted with the Minister of Commerce in the preparation of this statement. The Minister has not given any directions to the ASRB to amend the information provided in this Statement of Intent.
Due Process
The due process expected by the Board includes:
- the issue of an exposure draft for public comment, accompanied by a discussion paper;
- the preparation of the standard following consideration of the responses received to the exposure draft; and
- the submission of the standard to the Board for approval, accompanied by a summary of significant issues, an impact analysis where possible, and a comparison with similar international standards.
There are no prescribed procedures or requirements for submissions, but the Board is willing, if requested, to advise any person or body on appropriate procedures to be followed in respect of a proposed submission.
However, as it is anticipated that most financial reporting standards will be developed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand (“the Institute”), the Board has agreed with the Institute and its Financial Reporting Standards Board (“FRSB”) certain procedures for the development of financial reporting. These procedures are spelled out in ASRB Release 8. It is expected that any other organization submitting a proposed standard to the Board for approval would follow similar procedures and also request the views of the FRSB on the proposed standard.
Work Programme
The Board’s work programme to date has been determined primarily by the output of the FRSB, as the FRSB has thus far been the sole provider of standards submitted to the Board for approval.
The Board has agreed to fund the cost of New Zealand representatives attending meetings of the AASB, IASB and International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to provide direct input for New Zealand Standard setters into the development of financial reporting standards. This includes attendance at various IASB and IASB Project meetings.
The Board announced in December 2002 that it had decided that New Zealand entities would be required to apply International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”), for periods commencing on or after 1 January 2007, but would have the option to adopt for periods commencing on or after 1 January 2005.
Since that announcement, development by the IASB of a core set of standards to establish IFRS at 31 March 2004 and the IFRS transition rules and wider discussions within the New Zealand environment have clarified several aspects of the adoption process as they affect New Zealand. As a result, the Institute is developing, through its FRSB, New Zealand equivalents to IFRS to enable the standards to fit within our jurisdictional framework and meet the needs of a wider set of entities required to apply them.
Further details of the role and work programme of the ASRB are set out in Release 8 - Final “The Role of the Accounting Standards Revie