The UK Accounting Standards Board (ASB) has issued revised proposals for the future of Financial Reporting Standards in the UK and Republic of Ireland.  The revised proposals recommend:

• a) Replacing all current accounting standards with a single FRS. The basis for this single FRS will be the IASB's IFRS for SMEs. This move will reduce the volume of accounting standards from about 2,500 pages to 250 pages.
• b) Introducing a reduced disclosure framework which will permit certain entities (mainly subsidiaries) to apply the measurement and recognition requirements of EU-adopted IFRS with reduced disclosures.
• c) Retaining the FRSSE for smaller entities.

The current proposals represent a significant change from previous plans.  As a result of feedback the ASB has dropped their intended tier system.  This system would have extended the use of EU-adopted IFRS to publicly accountable entities.  The current intention is that only listed companies will have to apply EU-adopted IFRS.

The ASB is proposing that the revised proposals should take effect from ‘accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015 with earlier adoption permitted.  The proposals, which are available from the ASB website, are open for comment until 30 April 2012 and the final standard is expected by the end of 2012.

If you would like to contribute to the CIMA consultation process then please leave a comment below.