Listed companies are expected to give information on the implementation of the new revenue standard in its 2016 financial statements

On 20 July 2016 the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) issued a public statement, on the implementation of IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers, aimed at listed companies and their auditors. ESMA expects that the implementation is monitored by audit committees. The purpose with the statement is to promote consistent and high-quality implementation of the new standard and transparency on its impacts.

The effective date of application is 1 January 2018. However, in light of the importance of the revenue item for financial statements, the users must be able to evaluate possible impacts of the implementation earlier. ESMA highlights that both qualitative and quantitative information must be given as early as possible, in other words in the 2016 annual and 2017 interim financial statements. The statement illustrates good practises of disclosures to be provided. The disclosures should include progressively more information as the implementation proceeds.

The Financial Supervisory Authority sent in July 2016 a query to the audit committees concerning the implementation of the new standard. The object of the query is to assess the preparation of the implementation and to promote high-quality implementation. The findings will be reported near year-end.

For further information, please contact

• Laura Heinola, Accounting Expert, IFRS, tel. +358 10 831 5354
• Riitta Pelkonen, Accounting Expert, IFRS, tel. +358 10 831 5420

Appendix

• ESMA public statement (pdf)

The corresponding news release in Finnish was published on 19 August 2016.