Information is material if its omission or misstatement
could influence the economic decisions of users taken based on the financial
statements (IASB Framework).
Materiality therefore relates to the significance of
transactions, balances and errors contained in the financial statements.
Materiality defines the threshold or cutoff point after which financial
information becomes relevant to the decision-making needs of the users.
Information contained in the financial statements must therefore be complete in
all material respects for them to present a true and fair view of the affairs
of the entity.
Materiality is relative to the size and circumstances of
individual companies.
Example - Size
A default by a customer who owes only $1000 to a company
having net assets of worth $10 million is immaterial to the financial
statements of the company.
However, if the amount of default was, say, $2 million, the
information would have been material to the financial statements omission of
which could cause users to make incorrect business decisions.
Example - Nature
If a company is planning to curtail its operations in a
geographic segment which has traditionally been a major source of revenue for
the company in the past, then this information should be disclosed in the financial
statements as it is by its nature material to understanding the entity's scope
of operations in the future.
Materiality is also linked closely to other accounting
concepts and principles:
◾Relevance: Material information
influences the economic decisions of the users and is therefore relevant to
their needs.
◾Reliability: Omission or misstatement
of an important piece of information impairs users' ability to make correct
decisions taken based on financial statements thereby affecting the reliability
of information.
◾Completeness: Information
contained in the financial statements must be complete in all material respects
to present a true and fair view of the affairs of the company.
Comments
Post a Comment