Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
14
Related parties
Chapter learning objectives
Upon completion of this chapter you will be able to:
• determine the parties considered to be related to an entity
• identify the implications of related party relationships and the
need for disclosure.
371
Related parties
• Transactions between related parties are a normal feature of business.
• However, a related party relationship can affect the performance and
financial position of an entity as shown by its financial statements.
• Users of the financial statements therefore need to know about these
transactions.
Company A owns 75% of the equity shares of B. A sells goods to B at
prices significantly above market rate. As a result, the profit of A is more
than it would have been had it sold all of its goods to a third party.
Company A is therefore not comparable with that of similar companies.
Its performance has been distorted because it trades with an entity over
which it has control. This has enabled it to charge prices that are not
equivalent to those in arm's length transactions.
Companies A and B are related parties. Users of the financial
statements, such as investors and banks, need to be made aware of the
transactions that have occurred between these two companies to enable
them to make a proper assessment of the financial statements.
Related party transactions could include:
• purchases or sales of goods
• purchases or sales of noncurrent assets
• giving or receiving of services e.g. accounting or management
services
• leasing arrangements
• transfers of research and development
• financing arrangements (including loans)
• provision of guarantees or collateral
• settlement of liabilities on behalf of the entity.
A related party relationship can affect the financial position and
operating results of an entity in a number of ways, particularly in a group
situation.
• An entity may enter into transactions which may not have occurred if
the relationship did not exist
– For example, a subsidiary may sell most of its production to its
parent, where it might have found an alternative customer if the
parent company had not purchased the goods.
• An entity may enter into transactions on different terms from those
with an unrelated party
– For example, a subsidiary may lease equipment to another
group company on terms imposed by the parent, possibly at a
low rent or for no rent.
• Transactions with third parties may be affected by the existence of
the relationship
– For example, a parent could instruct a subsidiary to sell goods
to a particular customer or to close down a particular operation.
Directors may not want to disclose related party transactions.
Sometimes this is because they believe that disclosure will give users of
the financial statements the impression of poor stewardship or wrong
doing. Other times it may be that disclosure of related party transactions
would cast doubt about the true financial performance and position of a
company.
A related party is a person or entity that is related to the entity that is
preparing its financial statements.
IAS 24 gives the following rules which should be used to determine the
existence of related party relationships:
(vi) A person identified in (a)(i) has significant influence over the entity
or is a member of the key management personnel of the entity (or
of a parent of the entity)
(vii) The entity, or any member of a group of which it is a part, provides
key management personnel services to the reporting entity or to the
parent of the reporting entity.
Group accounting is covered in a later chapter. You may therefore find the
following definitions useful:
• A subsidiary is an entity over which an investor has control.
• A joint venture is an entity over which an investor has joint control.
• An associate is an entity over which an investor has significant
influence.
In the definition of a related party, an associate includes subsidiaries of the
associate and a joint venture includes subsidiaries of the joint venture.
Therefore, an associate’s subsidiary and the investor that has significant
influence over the associate are related to each other.
The standard notes that the following should not be considered related
parties:
• two entities simply because they have a director or other member of key
management personnel in common or because a member of key
management personnel of one entity has significant influence over the
other entity
• two joint venturers simply because they share joint control of a joint
venture
• a customer or supplier with whom an entity transacts a significant
volume of business, simply by virtue of the resulting economic
dependence.
IAS 24 stresses the importance of substance over form when deciding if two
parties are related.
• that person’s children and spouse or domestic partner
• children of that person’s spouse or domestic partner
• dependants of that person or that person’s spouse or domestic
partner.
Control is defined in IFRS 10. An investor controls an investee when:
• the investor has power over the investee, and
• the investor is exposed, or has rights, to variable returns from its
involvement with the investee, and
• the investor has the ability to affect those returns through its power
over the investee.
In simple terms, control is normally assumed when one entity owns more
than half of the equity shares of another entity.
Significant influence is defined in IAS 28 Investments in Associates
and Joint Ventures as the power to participate in, but not control, the
financial and operating policy decisions of an entity. Significant influence
is normally assumed when an entity owns between 20% and 50% of the
equity shares of another entity.
Joint control is defined in IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements as the
contractually agreed sharing of control of an arrangement, which exists
only when decisions about the relevant activities require the unanimous
consent of the parties sharing control.
Consider the following structure:
Entity A
60% 70%
Entity B Entity C
35%
Entity D
Required:
Consider each of the following situations:
(a)
Mr P
70% 30%
Entity A Entity B
Mr P controls entity A and is able to exert significant influence over entity
B.
(b)
Mr P
25% 30%
Entity A Entity B
Mr P is able to exert significant influence over entity A and entity B.
Required:
For each situation explain whether or not entity A and entity B are
related parties.
Consider the following situation:
Mr P
Entity A (100%) Entity B (Key management personnel)
Entity C (100%)
Mr P owns all of the issued share capital of entity A. He also is a
member of the key management personnel of entity B which, in turn,
owns all of the issued share capital of entity C.
Required:
Consider the following situation:
Control Significant influence
Entity A Entity B
Mr T controls entity A. His spouse, Mrs T, exercises significant influence
over entity B.
Required:
IAS 24 requires that relationships between parents and subsidiaries should
always be disclosed. The name of the parent and, if different, the ultimate
controlling party should be given. This applies regardless of whether or not
any transactions have taken place between the parties during the period.
The disclosure requirements of IFRS 12 Disclosure of Interests in Other
Entities (covered later in this text) also apply
Compensation granted to key management personnel should be disclosed
in total and for each of the following categories:
• shortterm employee benefits
• postemployment benefits
• other longterm benefits
• termination benefits
• sharebased payment.
If there have been transactions between related parties, and if there are
balances outstanding between the parties, the following should be
disclosed:
• the nature of the related party relationship
• a description of the transactions
• the amounts of the transactions
• the amounts and details of any outstanding balances
• allowances for receivables in respect of the outstanding balances
• the irrecoverable debt expense in respect of outstanding balances.
Disclosure should be made whether or not a price was charged.
An entity may only disclose that related party transactions were made on
terms equivalent to those that prevail in arm’s length transactions if such
terms can be substantiated.
Governmentrelated entities
A reporting entity is exempt from the above disclosures in respect of
transactions and balances that they have with:
• a government that has control, joint control or significant influence over
the reporting entity
• another entity that is a related party because the same government has
control, joint control or significant influence over both the reporting entity
and the other entity.
If this exemption is applied, then the following disclosures should be made
instead:
• the name of the government and the nature of its relationship with the
reporting entity
• the nature and amount of any individually significant transactions
• an indication of the extent of other transactions that are collectively, but
not individually, significant.
Joanne Smith has owned 60% of the equity shares of Picture and 70%
of the equity shares of Frame for many years. On 1 January 20X4,
Picture entered into a lease agreement with Frame. Under the terms of
the lease, Picture would lease one of its unused warehouses, with a
remaining useful life of 20 years, to Frame for five years. Consideration
payable by Frame would be $10,000 a year in arrears. Market rentals for
similar sized warehouses tend to be around $100,000 per year.
Required:
4 Chapter summary
Entity A:
Entities that are within the same group are related to one another.
Entities B and C are therefore related parties of A.
D is an associate of C. C is a member of A's group. This means that D
is a related party of A.
Entity B:
Entities that are within the same group are related to one another.
Entities A and C are therefore related parties of B.
D is an associate of C. C is a member of the same group as B. This
means that D is a related party of B
Entity C:
Entities that are within the same group are related to one another.
Entities A and B are therefore related parties of C.
Entities are related if one is an associate of another. C and D are
therefore related parties.
Entity D:
Entities are related if one is an associate of another. D and C are
therefore related parties.
Entities are related if one is an associate of a member of a group of
which the other entity is also a member. D is an associate of C.
Companies A and B are in the same group as C. This means that D is
also a related party of A and B.
Situation A:
Mr P is a related party of both entity A and entity B as he is able to
exercise either control or significant influence over each entity.
Mr P controls entity A and has significant influence over entity B.
Therefore, A and B are related parties.
Situation B:
Mr P is a related party of both entity A and entity B as he is able to
exercise significant influence over each entity.
Mr P does not control either entity A or entity B. Therefore, A and B are
not related parties.
Mr P has control over entity A, meaning that Mr P is a related party of A.
Mr P is a member of key management personnel of B, so is a related
party of B.
A and B are related parties, because Mr P controls A and is a member
of key management personnel of B.
Entity B controls entity C so B and C are related parties.
Mr P is a member of key management personnel of the parent of C, so
Mr P and C are related parties.
This means that entities A and C are also related parties (Mr P controls
A and is a member of key management personnel of the parent
company of C).
Mr T and Mrs T are close family.
Mr T controls entity A. Mr T and Mrs T are related parties of entity A.
Mrs T has significant influence over entity B. Mrs T and Mr T are related
parties of entity B.
Mr and Mrs T control entity A and have significant influence over entity B.
A and B are related parties.
According to IAS 17, a finance lease is a lease where the risks and
rewards of ownership transfer. This lease between Picture and Frame is
only for a fraction of the asset’s remaining useful life and the lease
payments are insignificant. The lease is therefore an operating lease.
Picture should recognise lease income on a straight line basis over the
lease term. Therefore, $5,000 ($10,000 × 6/12) should be recognised in
the current year’s statement of profit or loss, as well as a corresponding
entry to accrued income on the statement of financial position.
A related party transaction is defined by IAS 24 as a transfer of
resources, services or obligations between a reporting entity and a
related party. An entity is related to the reporting entity if they are under
joint control. An entity must disclose if it has entered into any
transactions with a related party.
Picture and Frame are under joint control of Joanne Smith, so this
means that they are related parties. Disclosure is required of all
transactions between Picture and Frame during the financial period.
Picture must disclose details of the leasing transaction and the income
of $5,000 from Frame during the year.
Disclosures that related party transactions were made on terms
equivalent to an arm’s length transaction can only be made if they can be
substantiated. The lease rentals are only 10% of normal market rate
meaning that this disclosure cannot be made.