Insights

Our annual look at M&A sentiment around the world shows that the shift in acquisitive focus amongst businesses uncovered last year – from domestic to cross-border – is becoming increasingly popular as a key strategy for companies looking to facilitate growth.

Classification of a financial instrument as either liability or as equity has an immediate and significant effect on an entity’s reported results and financial position. Liability classification for instance affects an entity’s gearing ratios and typically results in any payments being treated as interest and charged to earnings. This guide addresses the key application issues to consider and includes interpretational guidance in certain problematic areas.

Many companies find the accounting for deferred tax causes significant practical difficulties. This guide summarises the approach required by IAS 12 'Income Taxes' and provides examples of the disclosures required by it. It also looks in detail at some of the more complex areas of preparation of a deferred tax computation, for example the calculation of deferred tax balances arising from business combinations.

On Thursday of last week, I chaired a panel of leading figures from the PE industry – including Paul Canning (HIG Capital Europe), David Whileman (3i), Franceso di Valmarana (Pantheon) and my colleague Mo Merali (Grant Thornton UK) – to launch our 2012 Global Private Equity report: ‘The search for growth’.

Through our International Business Report we’ve been keeping track of global figures on the appetites for both domestic and cross-border transactions since 2008.

Increasing attention on companies’ cash generation and liquidity position has led financial statement users, regulators and other commentators to focus increasingly on the Statement of Cash Flows. However, this additional focus and scrutiny has also highlighted some common errors and inconsistencies in its preparation. This Guide aims to remind management of IAS 7's basic requirements; highlight interpretative and practical application issues; and provide insights to address these issues.