The Adoption of AASB 138 intangible assets in Australia: expected and realised impacts of IFRS

AASB 138 Intangible Assets is a new standard that is part of the package of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopted by reporting entities in Australia for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005. This standard requires derecognition of internally generated intangible assets, and adoption was widely expected to have a substantial impact on the reports of a small proportion (1.8%) of affected listed entities. Annual reports in the year before and after the adoption provide an opportunity to evaluate the expected and realised impacts of the new standard. This paper projects the 2004/05 results after adjusting Asset Revaluation, Accumulated Amortisation, Intangible Assets and Retained Earnings on the basis of information provided in the 2004/05 annual reports. It then calculates and compares four key financial measures for 2004/05 under three regimes: Australian GAAP, projected Australian equivalents of IFRS (AIFRS), and reported AIFRS. Whilst Return on Equity, Return on Assets and the Debt to Equity Ratio were expected to change significantly as a result of AASB 138, the reported AIFRS results show no significant changes in these measures. The paper considers reasons why the expected changes did not eventuate, and also how the actual changes were reported to stakeholders in the management discussion sections of the annual reports. The conclusion draws implications regarding the transparency of communications in annual reports.