SAICA Issues Guidance on IASB Illustrative Examples for Financial Statement Uncertainties

Posted 10 September 2026 Written by Acts Online
Category Financial and Accounting

Brought to you by SA Accounting Academy: The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) has issued educational material detailing the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) illustrative examples on reporting uncertainties in financial statements.

Under the reporting frameworks recognised in terms of the Companies Act, No. 71 of 2008, qualifying reporting entities must ensure financial disclosures adequately reflect underlying risks and measurement estimates. In November 2025, the IASB issued Disclosures about Uncertainties in the Financial Statements, introducing illustrative guidance to clarify how existing IFRS standards should be applied when presenting the financial impacts of operational, macroeconomic, and environmental uncertainties.

The guidance introduces specific illustrative examples across the accompanying documentation of six core standards:

  • IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures
  • IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements
  • IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements
  • IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors
  • IAS 36 Impairment of Assets
  • IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets

Because these additions amend only the non-mandatory illustrative examples accompanying the standards rather than altering the operative text or recognition criteria, they contain no delayed commencement date and are effective immediately. The release aims to strengthen consistency in disclosure and improve connectivity between annual financial statements and external sustainability-related disclosures.

Click here to download the SAICA Educational Material on Illustrative Examples or access the IASB Illustrative Examples Amendments Publication.

What this means for you, your business, or your clients

  • For yourself: Incorporate the IASB illustrative disclosure patterns into your audit or review working papers to evaluate whether key estimate notes satisfy IFRS uncertainty disclosure thresholds.
  • For your business: Update firm compilation checklists and technical templates across IAS 1, IAS 36, and IAS 37 to ensure working papers substantiate assumptions subjected to measurement uncertainty.
  • For your clients: Advise reporting entities to align climate and operational risk statements in their narrative management commentaries with the quantitative assumptions in their financial statement notes.

Originally published at https://accountingacademy.co.za/news/read/saica-educational-material-on-illustrative-examples-on-reporting-uncertainties-in-the-financial-statements

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