Financial Statements of Cherry Ltd Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Financial Statements of Cherry Ltd. Answer: Reporting of the cherry picker acquired from Sweets Ltd. The given company Cherry Ltd. has a number of subsidiaries and is a large organization. The asset in the form of cherry picker has been reported at the cost of $ 80000 however the same was given to the company by another company named Sweets Limited when the operations of the company were closed last year. The management now wants to know as to why the same has been reported at $ 80000. As per the qualitative characteristics of financial statements, Para 53, an asset can only be recognised in the balance sheet only when it is having future economic benefit to the entity, the entity has control over it and directly or indirectly and it will lead to the flow of cash and cash equivalents(Alexander, 2016). It should also be a productive asset in the normal course of operations of the business. In the given case, the company has not acquired the given cherry picker in the normal course of operation, it was acquired from the other company when it was closing down the operations. Generally, such an asset which is acquired from a different company when the same is closing down its operations, then the same should be recorded at cost or the fair value of the asset at which the same was transferred to the transferee company by the transferor company(Boccia Leonardi, 2016). It can also be reported as the single asset in the form of the brand or goodwill in case of the busines s combination as is stated in the AASB 3, Para 13, which deals on accounting for business combinations. On the acquisition date, the acquirer will access the business conditions and recognise the identifiable assets and liabilities as per the contractual terms with the transferee of the assets and liabilities and then make the classification based on accounting policies and other pertinent conditions. It should either be reported at the fair value or the proportionate amount at which the acquisition of the total business was being made. This is being mentioned in Para 19 of AASB 3(Belton, 2017). With respect to the disclosure requirements in the financial statements, the acquisition of the assets from a different company should be reported in the current accounting period including the terms of the acquisition. Furthermore, it should also disclose all the relevant facts of the acquisition which enables the users of the financial statements to take decisions and understands the effect of the acquisition at multiple places in the financial statements(Choy, 2018). IN the given scenario, it needs to be assessed by the management and a proper report needs to be submitted to the senior management which will have the detailed calculation on the acquisition values of the asset. How the same is being reported at $ 80000, whether the same is the cost or the fair value of the asset as on the date of the acquisition or it is just the consideration for the asset which is being paid to Sweets limited(Chron, 2017). Furthermore, it also needs to be assessed whether the asset is to be revalued based on the business conditions or it will be reported at $ 80000. It has not been mentioned in the question that Sweets limited was one of its subsidiaries or any other company not having associated with the parent company Cherry Limited. In case Sweet Limited is a subsidiary of Cherry Limited, the cherry picker can be reported as income from discontinued operations rather than reporting of the same as an asset in the books. This is also been covered in AASB 101, Pa ra 15 and 16 which deals with Presentation of the Financial Statements(Dichev, 2017). Reporting of the ICSA award for which investment was made in staff development In the given case, the company made a huge investment in the development of its staff in order to win an award named International Customer Service Award which would have bought great and bid deals to the company. The decision was taken 2 years back by the company and now the question raised by the management is why the ICSA Award is not appearing in Balance sheet and is not being reported in the financial statements(Erik Jan, 2017). As per the accounting standards, asset can only be recorded in the books of accounts and the balance sheet when certain economic benefit is expected to be arising out of it and consideration has been paid and it is within the control of the entity. The other significant condition is that the same should be reliably measured and the asset must possess a cost. This is as per SAC 3, Qualitative characteristics of Financial Information(Dumay Baard, 2017). In the given case, the company has not incurred any cost directly for earning the award, the cost has been expended on training of the individuals rather than earning the award. Furthermore, the award in itself does not qualify to be recognised as an asset in the balance sheet on the virtue of its own as it does not entail any economic benefit for the business on its own. It is rather the impact of the award that helps the business in earning the big contracts and great deals(Jefferson, 2017). As per the accounting standards, internally developed intangible assets with a fixed life or duration, can be reported in the financial statements, provided it has economic benefits in the future and the company has done research and development on the same and any new asset has been developed in the process. But in the given case, such a thing cannot be established directly as the investment has been made in the training and development of the employees of the company and the same is generally charged to profit and loss account of the company as the training and development expenses or the employee welfare expenses. AASB 101 also talks about offsetting of the assets and liabilities and the incomes and the expenses which is not allowed in the normal course of the business and the company should report the assets and liabilities separately and uniquely(Flix, 2017). Thus, in the given case, it can be concluded that the company would not be able to reliably measure the award which is being given to the company in lieu of the efforts and training and development of its workforce. It is thus, free of cost to the company. Moreover, the probable economic benefits in the future do not directly accrue from the award and hence it does not qualify the definition of the asset. The expense which has been incurred by the company to invest heavily in the development of the staff satisfies the definition of the revenue expenditure rather than the capital expenditure and therefore, it should be charged off in profit and loss account rather than finding a place in the balance sheet(Goldmann, 2016). This also justifies the fact that the contention of the senior management of Cherry Limited that the ISCA Award is one of the biggest assets of the company and thereby should be reported in the financial statements is also wrong and the reporting is correctly done(Go oley, 2016). Reporting of the Assets at fair value rather than cost In the given case, the company has given a note in the financial statements that assets are being reported at cost currently in the financial statements. The auditors of the company have mentioned that the assets should be reported at fair value in the financials rather than the cost in order to have better presentation and reporting and in order to meet the framework of Accounting Standards Board but the company has a view that reporting of assets at cost better meets the qualitative characteristics of the good financial information for the end users(Visinescu, et al., 2017). As per the SAC 3 on Qualitative characteristics of Financial information, para 16-26 talks on the reliability of the financial information, which is ensured by reporting the values of the assets in the best possible manner. AASB 13 dealing with Fair value measurement and AASB 116 dealing in property, plant and equipment talks on the recognition of the assets in the financial statements(Tysiac, 2017). It states that the Property, Plant and Equipment should be recognised as an asset when it is having probable economic benefit in the future and it will flow to the entity and that its cost can be measured reliably. All the initial costs which help the asset to bring to bring to the workable condition such that the economic benefits can be derived out of it like the transportation expenses, installation expenses should all be capitalised with the value of the assets initially(Sithole, et al., 2017). All the assets then need to be assessed for impairment periodically as and when the situat ion arises as per AASB 136 which deals with impairment on assets. IN terms of the subsequent costs that are being incurred on the asset the same needs to be charged to profit and loss account unless a major repair work has been done on the asset, which will help in improving the life of the assets or will increase the economic benefits derived out of it. With respect to final recognition in the financial statements at the year end, the assets particularly the property plant and equipment needs to be recognised at cost in the Balance sheet less the accumulated depreciation and the impairment costs. This has been explained in Para 30 of AASB 116. For a non-profit making entity, all such assets are required to be valued at the fair value, as on the date of acquisition, irrespective of whether it has been acquired at no cost or at a nominal cost(Saeidi, 2012). These costs will include the initial cost of purchase, the cost directly attributable to it and the cost of dismantling and reor ganising the assets to its workable condition. The examples of costs directly attributable include the cost of the site preparation, handling and delivery costs, installation and assembling costs, professional fees, etc. The above concept of measurement of the value of the asset at cost needs to be applied to the assets like land, building, plant and machinery, inventories, etc. However, in case of the financial assets and all the other non-financial assets, the valuation should be done as per the fair valuation approach(Knechel Salterio, 2016). The use of fair value comes when an asset is being acquired or being sold to a different entity. In such a circumstance, the asset should always be valued at the fair value. Fair value is the rational estimate of the value of the asset or liability which it would fetch or has to be incurred respectively when being sold in the market. It should be measured without any biasness at the arms length price in case of related parties. It takes into account factors like distribution costs, production cost, replacement cost, risks in the market and others factors like cost of capital and return on capital(Meroo-Cerdn, et al., 2017). IT is one of the standard concepts being used in accounting particularly in the case of mergers and acquisitions and reporting of the derivative assets. This concept takes into account the abilit y of one market participant to generate the maximum economic benefit out of the assets best and highest use by selling it to another market participant who will be deriving the best benefit out of it by using the asset at its highest use. The highest and best possible use can only be applied in case the asset satisfies 3 conditions namely physical possibility, financially feasibility and legal permissibility. As per Para 34 of AASB 13, Fair value measurement assumes that financial as well as the non-financial assets or the entitys own equity instrument , whatever it may be, is being transferred to the market participant, on the measurement date(Piesse, 2017). One other type of asset and liabilities which needs to be valued at fair value in the financial statements is when the assets and liabilities are being exchanged in an exchange transaction. In such a scenario, the fair value of the asset or liability is being measured and then paid (for liability) or received (to sell the asset). Normally, such transactions do not happen at the original cost value at which the asset was procured. While using the fair valuation techniques, it should be kept in mind that the correct rate of discounting is being used and the assets and liabilities are not unnecessarily inflated while valuation. All the assumptions and estimates being made while such a valuation must be clearly stated in the financial statements. Thus, it can be concluded from the above discussion that it is not necessary that all the assets needs to be valued as cost or all the assets needs to be valued at the fair values, it should first be seen as to what is the nature of the asset (financial, non-financial, tangible, intangible, etc.) and also the nature of the transaction (exchange transaction or transaction in the normal course of business or acquisition of the asset) and then the decision needs to be taken as to whether it should be valued at fair value or the cost. Appropriate disclosures must be given in this regard. References Alexander, F., 2016. The Changing Face of Accountability. The Journal of Higher Education, 71(4), pp. 411-431. Belton, P., 2017. Competitive Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. London: Macat International ltd. Boccia, F. Leonardi, R., 2016. 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