Eight operating segments the usefulness of IFRS 8 ICAS

Two research questions are considered in this study. First, it examines whether segmental disclosure by UK companies changed after the introduction of IFRS 8. Second, it investigates whether a sample of users, preparers and auditors considered whether IFRS 8 provided more decision-useful information than its predecessor, IAS 14R. 

Report (Crawford et al) - Feb 2012.indd 5 4/5/2012 4:08:08 PM 6 OPERATING SEGMENTS: THE USEFULNESS OF IFRS 8. To address the first research question, the annual reports of 150 UK companies (99  FTSE 100 and 51 FTSE 250 companies) were analysed in the year before and the year  after IFRS 8 was implemented. Specifically, segmental note disclosures in the annual reports of these sample companies were examined to ascertain whether the number of segments had changed, whether the items disclosed for each segment had altered and whether the type of  information provided (for example, geographic) had varied with the introduction of the new standard. Furthermore, information on the identity of the CODM and the usage of the non-IFRS measures was gathered.

To address the second research question, six preparers, seven auditors and seven users of financial statements were interviewed about their general perceptions concerning IFRS 8. They were also asked to talk about their own experiences of IFRS 8, including views on the number of segments, type of segment, segmental items disclosed by companies and other issues concerning the adoption IFRS 8.