IFRS in India

Conversion is much more than a technical accounting issue. IFRS or Ind AS may significantly affect any number of a company’s day-to-day operations and may even impact the reported profitability of the business itself. Conversion brings a one-time opportunity to comprehensively re-assess financial reporting and take ‘a clean sheet of paper’ approach to financial policies and processes.

In early 2010, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) issued various press releases on the IFRS roadmap and convergence plan for India specifying the convergence date to be 1 April, 2011, through 2014 for select Indian companies.

Since the timeline in the roadmap is no longer valid for Phase I companies, the new implementation date for Ind AS is awaited from the MCA. It is unclear if the MCA will release a fresh roadmap or just amend the implementation date.

Understanding IFRS or Ind AS and its implications is a business imperative for Indian companies.