Just when you thought it was safe to relax…. The people at the AASB provided boards and senior management, as well as the people at ASIC, with a Christmas present. To tell the truth, it is probably only a gift to audit companies and firms like ours! AASB 1046 disclosure requirements ceased to be in effect at December 31, to be replaced by AASB 124. The new standard largely replicates IAS 24 issued by the IASB. The exceptions are mainly to ensure greater individual remuneration disclosure, hence maintaining Australia’s comparative governance advantage.

Beware! While the basis of calculation under AASB 1046 is consistent with AASB 124, AASB 124 has substantially reduced requirements and guidance on calculating remuneration. Complying with the new accounting standard could be inconsistent with the intent of Corporations Act, Regulation 2M.3.03.

It may take management, boards and investors some time to get used to the new remuneration disclosure categories. However, because there is less prescription in how data is presented, there may be more difficulty in comparing across companies than under the old standard. So, while it will result in more work for our own programmers and analysts, we expect comparison data from our GuerdonData™ technology will be in even more demand.

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