AIM companies 'could adopt new standard early'

News Article - 29 November 2006
Category:

Companies listed on the alternative investment market (AIM) have been warned that they may have to implement one accounting standard before the scheduled date.

From the start of next year, all businesses will be expected to follow new international financial reporting standards (IFRS), however FRS 20 – Share-based Payment – will impact upon this year's reporting of share-based awards.

Audit firm KPMG has advised AIM companies to ensure they understand FRS 20's impact upon profits after the firm found that the standard could have a five per cent effect on profitability.

Ginny Stevens, KPMG's head of audit in the AIM sector, said: "Just as listed companies have had to take great care over effective and timely communication around the impact of IFRS on their figures, so AIM companies also need to be considering what the main impacts will be."

She added that companies would have to consider how they would report on potential profit losses because of the treatment of share-based payments.

The Accounting Standards Board states that the term share-based payments will cover save-as-you-earn plans and other applications such as share appreciation rights where a payment is made in cash with the amount depending upon the share price.

Article keywords:

---

More industry news

• Think tank warns UK may have already slipped back into recession
• Growing demand for HR staff in technology and international sectors
• Boosting business growth a ‘priority’ to avoid Eurozone slowdown
• HMRC launches alternative disputes pilot scheme this week
• December employment statistics disregard gloomy recruitment predictions
• Eurozone manufacturing PMI shows modest improvement
• UK scores highly for economic governance by ratings agency
• Government launches two-year project focusing on manufacturing sector
• Burden of regulation on UK businesses ‘too high’

Back to news home page »