ED 194 Service Concession Arrangements: Grantor

The AASB has released ED 194 which addresses accounting for service concession arrangements by operators. The ED also includes additional proposals to address aspects of service concession accounting, only relevant to grantors.

This ED mirrors the requirements of Interpretation 12 Service Concession Arrangements which addresses the accounting requirements for grantees.

Comments on the ED are due to the AASB by 24 May 2010.

ED 195 Defined Benefit Plans (proposed amendments to AASB 119)

The AASB has released ED 195 which contains proposals for targeted improvements to the transparency and comparability of defined benefit obligations, including:
  • That entities should recognise all changes in defined benefit obligations and in the fair value of plan assets when those changes occur;
  • To remove the option in AASB 119 to leave actuarial gains and losses unrecognised if they are within the ‘corridor’ and to defer recognition of actuarial gains and losses outside of the ‘corridor’;
  • A new presentation approach for changes in defined benefit obligations and the fair value of plan assets; and
  • Disclosures focused on specified objectives, including disclosures about the characteristics of an entity’s defined benefit plans and the risks arising from defined benefit plans.
Comments on the ED are due to the AASB by 9 August 2010.

ITC 23 Extractive Activities

The current Australian standard on extractive activities, AASB 6 Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources, was developed as an interim standard in 2004, and ITC 23 proposes a single accounting and disclosure model for extractive activities.

Comments on the ITC are due to the AASB by 2 July 2010.