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FRC publishes thematic review findings on financial reporting effects of COVID-19

FRC publishes thematic review findings on financial reporting effects of COVID-19

21 July 2020
The UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published the results of a thematic review looking at company reporting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The review analysed a sample of March 2020 interim and annual reports and accounts and found that although companies provided sufficient information to enable a user to understand the impact COVID-19 had on their performance, position and future prospects, some - particularly interim reports - would have benefited from more extensive disclosure.
The FRC reminds companies that they should:
  • explain the significant judgements and estimates made in preparing their accounts and provide meaningful sensitivity analysis or details of a range of possible outcomes to support any disclosed estimation uncertainty;
  • describe any significant judgements made in determining whether there is a material uncertainty about their ability to continue as a going concern;
  • ensure that assumptions used in determining whether the company is a going concern are compatible with assumptions used in other areas of the financial statements;
  • apply the requirements of IAS 1 to any exceptional or similar items, with income statement sub-totals comprising only items recognised and measured in accordance with IFRS;
  • apply existing accounting policies for exceptional and other similar items to COVID-19 related income and expenditure consistently and should not split income and expenses between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 financial statement captions arbitrarily; and
  • prepare interim reports that provide sufficient information to explain the impact that COVID-19 has had on their performance, position and future prospects.