The historical development of the concept of control in financial reporting

M.Com. (International Accounting)The definition of control and the non-consolidation of special purpose entities in group annual financial statements became a topic of concern and focus to investors, securities exchange regulators and accounting professionals after the global financial crisis. The global financial crisis began in 2007 and was caused in part, by investors not being able to access reliable information about the risk levels of entities in which they had invested. Organisations from around the world began to focus on financial reporting and auditing standards in order to determine how the crisis had occurred and how it could be prevented in the future. The focus has highlighted the definition of control, which would determine whether an entity would be consolidated into a group of companies or not, and the disclosure of the decisions, judgements and assumptions made by management when determining whether to consolidate an entity. Stakeholders have pushed for a framework for consolidation to ensure that entities would not be able to hide poorly performing investments and be able to easily determine the risks that the group is exposed to as a result of management’s investment policies. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has responded to the requirements of stakeholders and the critiques of the previous definitions of control by releasing International Financial Reporting Standard 10: Consolidated Financial Statements (IFRS 10) in 2011, which prescribes the latest definition thereof. The research study will establish the historical international development of the definition of control in various accounting contexts as prescribed by the IASB and its predecessors. The definition of control as prescribed by other financial reporting standards will be analysed, but as IFRS 10 is the first financial reporting standard to be released with a significantly different definition, it will form the main focus of the study. Definitions and opinions as stated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) will be assessed for comparability and context. The study will assess whether the latest definition of control is considered to be complete and sufficient to apply to all situations where the question of control has to be evaluated. A qualitative research design in a critical framework has been adopted for this research. The research traces the origins of the definition of control and makes a critical assessment of each definition prescribed by the IASB and its predecessors. The research is structured in chapters dedicated to specific decades, which detail the definition prescribed at the time, the reasons for any changes to definitions prescribed in previous periods and an assessment thereof. This research has found that the IASB’s definition of control has changed significantly over the past 60 years, the most significant change being the way in which control relating to investments in other entities has been defined. The IASB has moved away from the concept of control being based on majority share ownership, to a definition based on risk and reward exposure and the decision making capabilities of the investor. IFRS 10 is effective for companies with a financial year beginning on or after 01 January 2013 and the effects of the new definition of control have yet to be analysed. The definition of an asset has followed suit, and is no longer based on the property rights to an asset, but is rather based on flows of economic benefits to an entity with the latest working definition being ii based on control. The new definition of an asset is in line with the objective of the IASB to create a principles-based financial reporting framework, rather than a rules-based framework which prescribes the required accounting methods for assets and investments. The new definition of an asset is currently a working definition contained in an exposure draft, the purpose being to allow users of IFRS to comment until the cut off date in 2014. Once formal feedback has been considered, the IASB will determine whether the new definition of assets should be adopted or not. The Conceptual Framework within which the new definition is to be contained forms the base on which all other financial reporting standards are structured and other exposure drafts have been released. All the new definitions of control that have been released in new financial reporting standards, exposure drafts and discussion papers are more in line with a decision making framework for control rather than a rules-based or risks and rewards framework. These are however limited to the financial reporting standard in which they have been released, and are not interchangeable or applicable to other types of transactions. The IASB has not released any statements which indicate that the development of a universally applicable definition of control is a priority or an objective at this time