MASB Issues Revised Framework
On April 30, 2018, the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) issued a revised Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting and amendments to fourteen Standards under the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards Framework. According MASB Chairman, Mohamed Raslan, the revised Conceptual Framework and Amendments to References to the Conceptual Framework in MFRS Standards are word-for-word the pronouncements issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.
“This revised Conceptual Framework comprises a comprehensive set of concepts for financial reporting, and is built on the previous version of the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting issued in 2011. The changes to the chapters on the objective of financial reporting and qualitative characteristics of useful financial information are limited, but with improved wording to give more prominence to the importance of providing information needed to assess management’s stewardship of the entity’s economic resources,” he said.
Other improvements of the revised Conceptual Framework, according to Mohamed, include a new chapter on measurement, guidance on reporting financial performance, improved definitions and guidance, in particular the definition of a liability and clarifications in important areas, such as the role of prudence and measurement uncertainty in financial reporting.
“The Conceptual Framework is not a Standard and it does not override any Standard or any requirement in a Standard. Its main uses are to assist the Board in developing Standards, to assist preparers in developing accounting policies when no Standard applies to a particular transaction or other event (or when a Standard allows a choice of accounting policy) and to assist all parties in understanding and interpreting Standards,” he said.
He added that the amendments to the fourteen Standards are to update the references and quotations in these Standards so as to clarify the version of the Conceptual Framework these Standards refer to. The amendments are effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2020. The “Notice of Issuance” can be downloaded from the MASB website.
