Question

The latest versions of Australian accounting standards issued by the AASB are available on the AASB website: http://www.aasb.gov.au/Pronouncements/Current-standards.aspx.

Required

(a) Review the current accounting standards on the AASB website and select one accounting standard which you consider might be important for you to have some knowledge about in your future role as a professional accountant.

(b) Use an internet search engine to find two documents that you consider to be useful in gaining an understanding of the accounting standard. You should not include the accounting standard itself.

(c) Explain why these two documents would be useful to you in gaining an understanding of the accounting standard.

Answer 1

Answer :

Accounting Standard AASB 116 Property, Plant and Equipment :

Objective :The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the accounting treatment for property, plant and equipment so that users of the financial statements can discern information about an entity’s investment in its property, plant and equipment and the changes in such investment. The principal issues in accounting for property, plant and equipment are the recognition of the assets, the determination of their carrying amounts and the depreciation charges and impairment losses to be recognised in relation to them.

Recognition : The cost of an item of property, plant and equipment shall be recognised as an asset if, and only if: (a) it is probable that future economic benefits associated with the item will flow to the entity; and (b) the cost of the item can be measured reliably. Items such as spare parts, stand-by equipment and servicing equipment are recognised in accordance with this Standard when they meet the definition of property, plant and equipment. Otherwise, such items are classified as inventory. This Standard does not prescribe the unit of measure for recognition, ie what constitutes an item of property, plant and equipment. Thus, judgement is required in applying the recognition criteria to an entity’s specific circumstances. It may be appropriate to aggregate individually insignificant items, such as moulds, tools and dies, and to apply the criteria to the aggregate value. An entity evaluates under this recognition principle all its property, plant and equipment costs at the time they are incurred. These costs include costs incurred initially to acquire or construct an item of property, plant and equipment a

Depreciation :Each part of an item of property, plant and equipment with a cost that is significant in relation to the total cost of the item shall be depreciated separately. An entity allocates the amount initially recognised in respect of an item of property, plant and equipment to its significant parts and depreciates separately each such part. For example, it may be appropriate to depreciate separately the airframe and engines of an aircraft. Similarly, if an entity acquires property, plant and equipment subject to an operating lease in which it is the lessor, it may be appropriate to depreciate separately amounts reflected in the cost of that item that are attributable to favourable or unfavourable lease terms relative to market terms. A significant part of an item of property, plant and equipment may have a useful life and a depreciation method that are the same as the useful life and the depreciation method of another significant part of that same item. Such parts may be grouped in determining the depreciation charge.To the extent that an entity depreciates separately some parts of an item of property, plant and equipment, it also depreciates separately the remainder of the item. The remainder consists of the parts of the item that are individually not significant. If an entity has varying expectations for these parts, approximation techniques may be necessary to depreciate the remainder in a manner that faithfully represents the consumption pattern and/or useful life of its parts. An entity may choose to depreciate separately the parts of an item that do not have a cost that is significant in relation to the total cost of the item. The depreciation charge for each period shall be recognised in profit or loss unless it is included in the carrying amount of another asset.nd costs incurred subsequently to add to, replace part of, or service it. The cost of an item of property, plant and equipment may include costs incurred relating to leases of assets that are used to construct, add to, replace part of or service an item of property, plant and equipment, such as depreciation of right-of-use assets.

Impairment :To determine whether an item of property, plant and equipment is impaired, an entity applies AASB 136 Impairment of Assets. That Standard explains how an entity reviews the carrying amount of its assets, how it determines the recoverable amount of an asset, and when it recognises, or reverses the recognition of, an impairment loss.

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