WE often think of an asset as something that adds value to a business. A company buys a building, a machine or another business because it expects to benefit from it for many years. But owning an asset does not mean that its value stays the same forever. A machine that was once highly productive may become outdated. A busy branch may start losing customers. New technology may change the way an industry operates. A business acquired with high expectations may eventually fail to deliver the...

IN many boardrooms, financial statements are treated like a sealed envelope. They are opened briefly, reviewed for key figures, then quietly set aside once the auditors have signed. The assumption is simple: accountants prepared the numbers and auditors checked them, so everything must be fine. That assumption is becoming dangerous. Today, financial statements prepared under the International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, are not just technical reports. They tell a story about...

IN today’s business environment, trust is becoming as important as profit. Investors, lenders, regulators and even employees want to know not just how much a company earns, but how it earns it. One accounting area now receiving renewed attention is related party disclosures — a topic governed by IAS 24. Related party transactions are not illegal. In fact, they are common, especially in family-owned businesses, conglomerates and growing groups of companies. Problems arise when these...