The presentation of income and other comprehensive income in the IAS Conceptual Framework

Abstract

Introduction. The articulation of profit or loss and other comprehensive income increases the usefulness and faithfully represent information in financial statements. The IAS Conceptual Framework assigns primacy to the reflecting changes measurement assets and liabilities, expressed in terms of rights or requirements with respect to profit or loss. The result of this balance-sheet approach is that net income is determined as a by-product of the recognition and measurement of net assets in the balance sheet. At the same time recognized other comprehensive income. However, other comprehensive income, due to its lack of firm theoretical underpinnings, removes only the incoherencies related to capital- maintenance adjustments, is a debated question that remains unresolved what determines the relevance of the research and enables the formation of its purpose. The purpose of the article is to identify the advantages and disadvantages of applying the balance-sheet approach in determining net income or loss and to study their impact on the accounting practice of non-financial companies. Methods. The methodological basis of the study is the application of a systematic approach to improving the application of the balance-sheet model when determining net profit with the recognition of total income, comparative analysis, scientific generalization – for the study of the approaches proposed by scientists to the calculation of net profit and the use of the principle of matching between revenues and expenses, structural-logical and semantic analysis – to determine the shortcomings of the application of the balance-sheet model for non-financial companies, induction and deduction, abstract-logical – to improve the methodology of using the balance-sheet model taking into account the principles of accrual and compliance, tabular – to determine the list of transactions, as a result of which other aggregate income is recognized and establish the advantages of using the model balance. Results. The determined that the number of operations that require adjustment of assets and liabilities according to requirements IAS increases. As a consequence, profit conventional (realised) and other comprehensive income (unrealised) are recognized, which is not sufficiently represented by the Conceptual Framework. Taking the first step in the above, considered the merits of the concept of the balance-sheet approach: separate presentation of realized and unrealized income or losses (other comprehensive income), accounting for changes in the value of assets and liabilities in the longterm, control over adjustments of previously unrealized income and losses, separate presentation of revaluation results of assets and of articles that are to be reclassified, true presentation of the amount of net assets in the balance-sheet for each reporting date, separation of taxable and of nontaxable income, reduction of uncertainty. Conclusions and prospects. Installed, that the balance-sheet approach in the Framework is a good starting point for evaluating issues of recognition and measurement net assets, profit or loss. However, taking into the implications of а common practice, the of a pure balance-sheet approach cannot be used satisfactorily in non-financial companies without taking into account principles for accrual and matching in the part of the main operating activity. The informative income statement should convey a measure of profit from sales and that requires some form of matching. Mixed approach is more comprehensive, allowing for complementary roles for balance-sheet of an income statement.  Common using in practice matching when determining income from operating activities and the balance-sheet method requires more detailed research in subsequent scientific work.