2012年ACCA考试辅导资料：P2公司报告考官总结2

　　Most definitions based on size use measures such as number of employees，net assets total，or annual turnover. However，none of these measures apply well across national borders. The IFRS for SMEs is intended for use by entities that have no public accountability （ie its debt or equity instruments are not publicly traded）。

　　Ultimately，the decision regarding which entities should use the IFRS for SMEs stays with national regulatory authorities and standard setters. These bodies will often specify more detailed eligibility criteria. If an entity opts to use the IFRS for SMEs，it must follow the standard in its entirety -it cannot cherry pick between the requirements of the IFRS for SMEs and those of full IFRSs.

　　The International Accounting Standards Board（IASB）makes it clear that the prime users of IFRSs are the capital markets. This means that IFRSs are primarily designed for quoted companies and not SMEs. The vast majority of the world＊s companies are small and privately owned，and it could be argued that IFRSs are not relevant to their needs or to their users. It is often thought that small business managers perceive the cost of compliance with accounting standards to be greater than their benefit.

　　To this end，the IFRS for SMEs makes numerous simplifications to the recognition，measurement and disclosure requirements in full IFRSs. Examples of these simplifications are：

　　·goodwill and other indefinite-life intangibles are amortised over their useful lives，but if useful life cannot be reliably estimated，then 10 years

　　·a simplified calculation is allowed if measurement of defined benefit pension plan obligations （under the projected unit credit method） involves undue cost or effort

　　·the cost model is permitted for investments in associates and joint ventures.

　　The main argument for separate SME accounting standards is the undue cost burden of reporting，which is proportionately heavier for smaller firms. The cost burden of applying the full set of IFRSs may not be justified on the basis of user needs. Further，much of the current reporting framework is based on the needs of large business， so SMEs perceive that the full statutory financial statements are less relevant to the users of SME accounts. SMEs also use financial statements for a narrower range of decisions，as they have less complex transactions and therefore less need for a sophisticated analysis of financial statements. Thus，the disclosure requirements in the IFRS for SMEs are also substantially reduced when compared with those in full IFRSs partly because they are not considered appropriate for users’needs and for cost-benefit considerations. Many disclosures in full IFRSs are more relevant to investment decisions in capital markets than to the transactions undertaken by SMEs.

　　There are arguments against different reporting requirements for SMEs in that it may lead to a two-tier system of reporting. Entities should not be subject to different rules，which could give rise to different 'true and fair views’.

　　One course of action could have been for GAAP for SMEs to be developed on a national basis，with IFRSs focusing on accounting for listed company activities. The main issue here would be that the practices developed for SMEs may not have been consistent and may have lacked comparability across national boundaries. Also，if a SME wished to list its shares on a capital market，the transition to IFRSs may be more difficult.

　　There were a number of approaches that could have been taken to developing standards for SMEs. Under one approach，the exemptions given to smaller entities would be prescribed in the mainstream accounting standard. For example，an appendix could have been included within the standard detailing those exemptions given to smaller enterprises. Another approach would have been to introduce a separate standard comprising all the issues addressed in IFRSs，which are relevant to SMEs.

　　The IFRS for SMEs is a self.contained set of accounting principles that are based on full IFRSs，but that have been simplified so that they are suitable for SMEs. The standard has been organised by topic with the intention that the standard would be user-friendly for preparers and users of SME financial statements.

　　The IF RS for SMEs should provide improve d comparability for users of acounts whilE en hanc ing the overal confidence in the acc ounts of SMEs，an d re ducing the significant costs involve d of mainta ining stan dards on a nat ional basis.