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Thursday, 19 January 2012

Principles involved in financial capital maintenance in units of constant purchasing power

The principles involved in financial capital maintenance in units of constant purchasing power in terms of a daily rate at all levels of inflation and deflation include:
1 The constant purchasing power of capital is always equal to the real value of net assets.

2 The capital concept to be implemented: Constant purchasing power capital.

3 The capital maintenance concept to be implemented: Financial capital maintenance in units of constant purchasing power at all levels of inflation and deflation in terms of a daily rate.

4 The stable measuring unit assumption is never implemented.

5 Monetary items are units of currency held and items with an underlying monetary nature. Monetary items with an underlying monetary nature are substitutes for units of currency held.

6 Non-monetary items are all items that are not monetary items

7 Non-monetary items are sub-divided in:

(a) Variable real value non-monetary items and

(b) Constant real value non-monetary items.

Variable real value non-monetary items are non-monetary items with variable real values over time.

Constant real value non-monetary items are non-monetary items with constant real values over time.

8 Daily measurement is required of all items in terms of

(a) a Daily Consumer Price Index or monetized daily indexed unit of account, e.g. the Unidad de Fomento in Chile, during low inflation, high inflation and deflation and

(b) in terms of a relatively stable foreign currency parallel rate (normally the US Dollar daily parallel rate) or a Brazilian-style Unidade Real de Valor daily index rate during hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is defined in IAS 29 as cumulative inflation being equal to or approaching 100 per cent over three years, i.e. 26 per cent annual inflation for three years in a row.

Measurement

9 Historic and current period monetary items are required to be inflation-adjusted on a daily basis. When they are not inflation-adjusted on a daily basis during the current financial period then the net monetary loss or gain as defined in IAS 29 is required to be calculated and accounted. All monetary items except actual bank notes and coins can be inflation-adjusted on a daily basis. This would remove the total cost of inflation from the entire money supply except from actual bank notes and coins which generally make up about seven per cent of the money supply in advanced economies.

10 Current period variable items are required to be measured on a daily basis in terms of IFRS excluding the stable measuring unit assumption. When they are not valued on a daily basis, then they as well as historic variable items are required to be updated daily in terms of a daily rate as indicated above. Current period impairment losses in variable items are treated in terms of IFRS. They are constant items once they are accounted. All accounted losses and profits are constant items.

11 Historic and current period constant real value non-monetary items are always and everywhere required to be measured in units of constant purchasing power in terms of a daily rate as indicated above.

12 When constant items are not measured daily in units of constant purchasing power, then the calculation and accounting of the net constant item loss or gain is required.

13 Once an entity has started financial capital maintenance in units of constant purchasing power it is required to continue with that model at all future levels of inflation and deflation.

14 Entities in economies with inflation rates below 10 per cent per annum or cumulative inflation over three years below 26 per cent should be very strongly encouraged to implement financial capital maintenance in units of constant purchasing power in terms of a daily rate as proposed by the Argentinean Federation.

15 Inflation and deflation only affect the real value of monetary items not inflation-adjusted and deflation adjusted respectively

16 The stable measuring unit assumption affects the real value of constant items not maintained constant during inflation and deflation.

17 The terms ‘restatement’, ‘restated’, ‘inflation restatements’ and ‘inflation-adjustment of financial statements’ should not be used in a proposed new IFRS regarding capital maintenance in units of constant purchasing power.

18 The proposed new IFRS is a departure from Historical Cost Accounting at all levels of inflation and deflation.

Nicolaas Smith

Copyright (c) 2005-2012 Nicolaas J Smith. All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

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