The Ontario Securities Commission has published an online guide to assist public companies with filing their first interim financial reports under new International Financial Reporting Standards in 2011.

The changeover to IFRS in Canada set to begin on Jan. 1, 2011. The guide, titled Top 10 Tips for Public Companies Filing their First IFRS Interim Financial Report, highlights the requirements for the initial filing with securities regulators.

“The deadline for the IFRS changeover is fast approaching and the OSC’s goal is to help facilitate a smooth regulatory transition, which will benefit both issuers, their advisors and their investors,” said Leslie Byberg, director of corporate finance at the OSC.

The tips fall into the following 10 categories:

1. Changes to acceptable accounting principles
2. Auditor involvement with regulatory filings
3. Q1 filing extension for first time IFRS filers
4. Consequences of missing financial statement filing deadlines
5. IFRS financial statement presentation
6. Key financial statement notes in the first IFRS interim financial report
7. Required reconciliations under IFRS 1
8. Management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A)
9. CEO/CFO certification
10. Prospectus and other offering issues

The guide emphasizes that a company’s first financial report under the IFRS structure should include disclosure that exceeds the minimum disclosure requirements so that financial statements users are better able to understand how the transition to IFRS affected previously reported annual and interim results.

“It is critical that investors are properly informed during the IFRS transition on whether reported changes in financial performance relate to the adoption of different accounting standards or relate to a change in the issuer’s business,” the guide says.

The Top 10 Tips guide for public companies is part of the OSC’s ongoing effort to assist market participants with the IFRS transition. Other initiatives have included seminars for market participants, webinars, industry speaking engagements and publications produced in conjunction with the Canadian Securities Administrators.

IE