IND AS 36- Impairment of Assets

What is Impairment?

Why IND AS 36 was introduced?

Which assets be traced for impairment and how frequently?

What be the criteria for-

Recognition of Impairment?

Reversal of Impairment?

 

Meaning of Impairment:

In general terms impairment is a scenario when realizable value of an asset is found less than the book value said asset.

There could be many reasons responsible for such asset value depletion/impairment such as obsolescence/physical damage of asset, technological advancement leading to downturn of old machinery and many more.

 

Objective of introducing IND AS 36:

-        To prescribe a method that an entity can opt for to ensure that its assets are not carried at more than their recoverable amount i.e. higher of fair value less cost of disposal or value in use.

-        For purpose of this the value in use refers to nothing but the present value of expected cashflow of asset.

 

Assets to be tracked for Impairment and frequency to trace effect of impairment:

All of the below mentioned assets must be traced at least annually and otherwise whenever there exists any such indication, for impairment purpose:

-        Intangible assets with indefinite useful life;

      -        Intangible asset not yet available for use;

      -        Goodwill acquired in business combination.

Recognition criteria for Impairment:

Asset is said to be impaired, when the recoverable amount of asset happens to be less than the book value.

What do we mean by recoverable amount? Recoverable amount is nothing but higher of below 2 values of an asset under consideration:

 1.     Value in Use- This value could be derived by discounting the expected future cashflows of an asset  using effective discount rate;

       2.     Fair value less cost of disposal- Which is nothing but the difference between expected value realizable from an asset and that of the cost incurred /to be incurred for disposal of said asset.

However, note that in circumstances wherein only one of the aforementioned values is identifiable, then check if the said value is higher than the asset book value? If yes, then there is no need to find the other value, reason being there is no possible impairment in given circumstances since the available value itself is higher than the book value of given asset.

Once the amount of impairment loss has been evaluated, the same be recorded as below:

1.     Impairment of asset, never re-valued in past: The entire amount of impairment loss be recognized in  Profit & loss statement;

      2.     Impairment of asset, re-valued in past:

a.     Past revaluation resulted in Surplus: Then amount of impairment loss shall be either less than /equals to/more than the amount of surplus so created. If impairment loss is less than/equals to surplus, the entire amount of loss be recognized in Other Comprehensive Income statement so as to set off past surplus. However, in case where impairment loss is more than the past surplus, then amount of loss equivalent to surplus be recognized in Other Comprehensive Income statement and balance be recorded in Profit & loss statement;

b.     Past revaluation resulted in depletion: Then recognize full amount of impairment loss directly in Profit & loss statement only.

 

Note: At time of recognition of impairment loss, if there exist multiple fixed & intangible assets, then the impairment loss be very first recognized/set off against goodwill (if any), then against other fixed and intangible assets in their respective value proportion.

 

Reversal of Impairment loss, earlier recognized:

Although, once impairment has been recognized, still the entity needs to continually monitor said asset if there exist any circumstances indicative of further impairment or that if the recoverable value has risen back above so as to reverse earlier recognized impairment loss.

However, even though if there exist probability for reversal of impairment, still the amount/quantum of impairment loss recognized towards to goodwill can never be reversed.

Also, the balance amount of impairment loss recognized towards other asset of fixed/intangible nature be reversed only to a limited extent and not in entirety.

Extent of reversal permissible:

If at all the recoverable value of an impaired asset has again risen more than its book value, then amount of reversal permitted be calculated as below:

Reversal= Asset book value that would have existed had no impairment taken place

(-)

                 Current value of asset, post impairment and depreciation if any

This amount of reversal be straight up recorded in profit & loss statement.

 

Conclusion:

It is crucial for every entity that while drafting financial statements, they make sure that all the values as are disclosed in financials are truthful. The same applies to the asset valuation as well. So, they must make sure that asset is valued as per grounds laid down under relevant accounting standards as applicable to said entity.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ind AS-115: Revenue from Contract with Customers

Taxability of E-commerce Transactions: Comparison of TDS vis-à-vis Equalisation levy -