Under current standards, both US GAAP and IFRS require the issuer of financial instruments to determine whether either equity or financial liability classification (or both) is required. Although the IFRS and US GAAP definitions of a financial liability bear some similarities, differences exist that could result in varying classification of identical instruments.

As an overriding principle, IFRS requires a financial instrument to be classified as a financial liability if the issuer can be required to settle the obligation in cash or another financial asset. US GAAP, on the other hand, defines a financial liability in a more specific manner. Unlike IFRS, financial instruments may potentially be equity-classified under US GAAP if the issuer’s obligation to deliver cash or another financial asset at settlement is conditional. As such, US GAAP will permit more financial instruments to be equity-classified as compared to IFRS.

Many financial instruments contain provisions that require settlement in cash or another financial asset if certain contingent events occur. Under IFRS, contingently redeemable (settleable) instruments are more likely to result in financial liability classification, and financial instruments that are puttable are generally financial liabilities with very limited exceptions. This is because the issuer cannot unconditionally avoid delivering cash or another financial asset at settlement. Identical contingently redeemable (settleable) and/or puttable instruments may be equity-classified under US GAAP due to the conditional nature of the issuer’s obligation to deliver cash (or another financial asset) at settlement.

Oftentimes, reporting entities issue financial instruments that have both a liability and an equity component (e.g., convertible debt and redeemable preferred stock that is convertible into the issuer’s common equity). Such instruments are referred to as compound financial instruments under IFRS and hybrid financial instruments under US GAAP. IFRS requires a compound financial instrument to be separated into a liability and an equity component (or a derivative component, if applicable). Notwithstanding convertible debt with a cash conversion feature, which is accounted for like a compound financial instrument, hybrid financial instruments are evaluated differently under US GAAP. Unless certain conditions requiring bifurcation of the embedded feature(s) are met, hybrid financial instruments are generally accounted for as a financial liability or equity instrument in their entirety. The accounting for compound/hybrid financial instruments can result in significant balance sheet presentation differences while also impacting earnings.

Settlement of a financial instrument (freestanding or embedded) that results in delivery or receipt of an issuer’s own shares may also be a source of significant differences between IFRS and US GAAP. For example, net share settlement would cause a warrant or an embedded conversion feature to require financial liability classification under IFRS. A similar feature would not automatically taint equity classification under US GAAP, and further analysis would be required to determine whether equity classification is appropriate. Likewise, a derivative contract providing for a choice between gross settlement and net cash settlement would fail equity classification under IFRS even if the settlement choice resides with the issuer. If net cash settlement is within the issuer’s control, the same derivative contract may be equity-classified under US GAAP.

Written options are another area where US GAAP and IFRS produce different accounting results. Freestanding written put options on an entity’s own shares are classified as financial liabilities and recorded at fair value through earnings under US GAAP. Under IFRS, such instruments are recognized and measured as a gross financial liability at the discounted value of the settlement amount and accreted to their settlement amount.

In addition to the subsequent remeasurement differences described above, the application of the effective interest method when accreting a financial liability to its settlement amount differs under IFRS and US GAAP. The effective interest rate is calculated based on the estimated future cash flows of the instrument under IFRS, whereas the calculation is performed using contractual cash flows under US GAAP (with two limited exceptions, puttable and callable debt).

ASC 470, ASC 480, ASC 815, ASC 820, ASC 825, ASC 850, ASC 860, ASR 268, CON 8

IAS 32, IFRS 9, IFRS 13, IFRIC 2

The following discussion captures a number of the more significant GAAP differences. It is important to note that the discussion is not inclusive of all GAAP differences in this area.