IFRS no Japão

Segundo a Nikkei (Intl Accounting Rules Exert Growing Impact On Pension Plans) a adoção da IFRS pode aumentar o custo de pensão das empresas japonesas:

The internationalization of Japanese accounting rules is likely to increase the effect that corporate pension programs have on the financial condition and earnings of host companies more than ever.

An entertainment-related company listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange booked liabilities in excess of assets in fiscal 2007 under international accounting criteria. The negative net worth was not seen in the earnings report for the year that the company compiled and released based on Japanese accounting rules, but was recorded under the international standards the firm also uses because its biggest shareholder is a listed Western company.

Under Japanese rules, a company does not need to immediately register on its balance sheet part of a shortage in pension reserves and is allowed to treat it as off-the-books debt. International standards, however, usually require the company to immediately reflect the shortfall on its balance sheet.

Companies in the U.S. were required to promptly register the shortages on their balance sheets starting in fiscal 2006, and Japan is highly likely to introduce a similar regulation sooner or later. In such a case, the status of corporate pension funds will greatly affect the balance sheets of Japanese companies each business period.

The realignment of accounting rules for pension programs toward international standards may affect profit/loss statements as well.

Losses on pension funds under management are written off either in a single year or over a number of years under Japanese rules, which allow companies to choose between the two approaches.