Sectorneutral Accounting Standards: A Ten year Experiment

Abstract

In 1992, New Zealand adopted a sectorneutral approach to standard setting – where the difference in accounting treatment is driven by differences in the nature of transactions and not by ownership or the objectives of the reporting entity. In the process of adopting International Financial Reporting Standards, New Zealand standardsetters are currently struggling to maintain sectorneutrality in financial reporting because international standards are primarily developed for profitoriented entities. With the possible loss of sectorneutral financial reporting, it is appropriate to review the outcome of tenyear experiment. In particular, we focus on the impact that transactions that are common to a number of public benefit entities have on accounting standards that apply to profitorientated entities. The results of this review may be useful to future standard setters and to the joint FASB/IASB convergence project.