This publication has been carefully prepared, but it has been written

in
general terms and should be seen as broad guidance only. The
publication cannot be relied upon to cover specific situations and
you should not act, or refrain from acting, upon the information
contained therein without obtaining specific professional advice.
Please contact your respective BDO member firm to discuss these
matters in the context of your particular circumstances. Neither
BDO IFR Advisory Limited, Brussels Worldwide Services BV, BDO
International Limited and/or BDO member firms, nor their
respective partners, employees and/or agents accept or assume
any liability or duty of care for any loss arising from any action taken

IFRS AT A GLANCE
or not
taken by anyone in reliance on the information in this publication or
for any decision based on it.

IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in

Service provision within the international BDO network of
independent member firms (‘the BDO network’) in connection with

Foreign Exchange Rates

IFRS (comprising International Financial Reporting Standards,
International Accounting Standards, and Interpretations developed
by the IFRS Interpretations Committee and the former Standing
Interpretations Committee), and other documents, as issued by the
International Accounting Standards Board, is provided by BDO IFR
Advisory Limited, a UK registered company limited
by guarantee. Service provision within the BDO network is
coordinated by Brussels Worldwide Services BV, a limited liability
company incorporated in Belgium with its statutory seat in
Zaventem.

Each of BDO International Limited (the governing entity of the

BDO network), Brussels Worldwide Services BV, BDO IFR
Advisory Limited and the member firms is a separate legal entity
and has no liability for another such entity’s acts or omissions.
Nothing in the arrangementsor
rules of the BDO network shall constitute or imply an agency
relationship or a partnership between BDO International Limited,
Brussels Worldwide Services BV, BDO IFR Advisory Limited
and/or the member firms of the BDO network.

BDO is the brand name for the BDO network and for each of the
BDO member firms.

© 2020 BDO IFR Advisory Limited, a UK registered company

limited by guarantee. All rights reserved.

www.bdo.global
 48

IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates

Also refer:
IFRIC 16 Hedges of a Net Investment in a Foreign Operation (for enentities that apply IAS 39) , IFRIC 22 Foreign Currency Transactions and Advance Consideration
Effective Date
Periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005

FUNCTIONAL CURRENCY FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS Monetary items

Units of currency held and assets/ liabilities to be received/paid in a
An entity’s functional currency is the currency fixed or determinable amount of money.
of the primary economic environment in Initial recognition
which it operates. Spot rate at transaction date  Translated at closing rate at reporting date
 Gain or loss is recognised in profit or loss.
Determine functional currency of each entity
within a group - currency of primary economic
Subsequent measurement
environment in which entity operates.

Non-monetary items
 Rate at transaction date (if item at historical cost)
START  Rate at revaluation date (if item carried at revalued amount).

Impairment test
Primary factors Measure non-monetary assets at the lower of either:
When determining the  Carrying amount x historical rate
appropriate functional currency,  Net realisable value/recoverable amount x closing rate at the end of
management should give priority the period.
to the following factors: Is the entity a foreign
operation? Translation gains or losses on asset/liability recognised in profit or loss.
 Currency influencing sales
prices for goods and services
If yes, is the foreign
 Currency of country whose operation ‘integral’ to its
competitive forces and ‘parent’? That is, does it FUNCTIONAL CURRENCY
regulations determine sale carry on business as if it ESTABLISHED
prices is an extension of the
 Currency mainly influencing Loan forming part of net investment in foreign operation
parent’s own operations?
input costs. Exchange gains and losses to equity on consolidation only. Recorded in
If it is ‘integral’ to its profit or loss in the separate (entity only) financial statements.
Secondary factors ‘parent’, the foreign
The primary indicators may be CONSOLIDATION OF FOREIGN
operation has the same
determinative. However, the functional currency as ENTITIES AND TRANSLATION OF
following two indicators serve as the parent. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS TO A Disposal of a foreign operation
supporting evidence. The cumulative amount of exchange differences that was recognised in
Currency in which funds/receipts: (Parent: the entity that
PRESENTATION CURRENCY equity is reclassified to profit and loss (recycled).
 from financing activities are has the foreign operation
generated as its subsidiary, branch
 from operating activities are associate or joint General principle
retained. arrangement). Foreign exchange gain or loss to profit or loss
Translation method
 Assets & liabilities – closing rate Exception
 Income and expenses – rate at Where a gain or loss on a non-monetary item is recognised in equity,
transaction date (for practical purposes a the foreign exchange gain or loss is also recognised in equity.
monthly or quarterly rate might
KEY PRINCIPLES approximate the transaction date rates)
 The resulting exchange differences are
 No need to present financial statements in functional currency. A recognised in other comprehensive
presentation currency can be selected income (foreign currency translation
 Accounting records must be kept in functional currency reserve).
 A group does not have a functional currency. Functional currency is
assessed separately for each entity in the group.
 Contact
For further information about how BDO can assist you and your organisation, please get in touch with one of our key
contacts listed below.

Alternatively, please visit www.bdo.global where you can find full lists of regional and country contacts.

EUROPE

Anne Catherine Farlay France annecatherine.farlay@bdo.fr

Jens Freiberg Germany jens.freiberg@bdo.de
Teresa Morahan Ireland tmorahan@bdo.ie
Ehud Greenberg Israel ehudg@bdo.co.il
Stefano Bianchi Italy stefano.bianchi@bdo.it
Roald Beumer Netherlands roald.beumer@bdo.nl
Reidar Jensen Norway reidar.jensen@bdo.no
Leonid Sidelkovskiy Russia L.Sidelkovskiy@bdo.ru
David Cabaleiro Spain david.cabaleiro@bdo.es
Beat Rüfenacht Switzerland beat.ruefenacht@bdo.ch
Moses Serfaty United Kingdom moses.serfaty@bdo.co.uk

ASIA PACIFIC

Aletta Boshoff Australia aletta.boshoff@bdo.com.au

Hu Jian Fei China hu.jianfei@bdo.com.cn
Fanny Hsiang Hong Kong fannyhsiang@bdo.com.hk
Pradeep Suresh India pradeepsuresh@bdo.in
Khoon Yeow Tan Malaysia tanky@bdo.my

LATIN AMERICA

Marcello Canetti Argentina mcanetti@bdoargentina.com

Victor Ramirez Colombia vramirez@bdo.com.co
Ernesto Bartesaghi Uruguay ebartesaghi@bdo.com.uy

NORTH AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

Armand Capisciolto Canada acapisciolto@bdo.ca

Wendy Hambleton USA whambleton@bdo.com

MIDDLE EAST

Arshad Gadit Bahrain arshad.gadit@bdo.bh

Antoine Gholam Lebanon agholam@bdo-lb.com

SUB SAHARAN AFRICA

Theunis Schoeman South Africa tschoeman@bdo.co.za

This publication has been carefully prepared, but it has been
written in general terms and should be seen as broad guidance
only. The publication cannot be relied upon to cover specific
situations and you should not act, or refrain from acting, upon
the information contained therein without obtaining specific
professional advice. Please contact your respective BDO member
firm to discuss these matters in the context of your particular
circumstances. Neither BDO IFR Advisory Limited, Brussels
Worldwide Services BV, BDO International Limited and/or BDO
member firms, nor their respective partners, employees and/or
agents accept or assume any liability or duty of care for any loss
arising from any action taken or not
taken by anyone in reliance on the information in this publication or
for any decision based on it.

Service provision within the international BDO network of

independent member firms (‘the BDO network’) in connection with
IFRS (comprising International Financial Reporting Standards,
International Accounting Standards, and Interpretations developed
by the IFRS Interpretations Committee and the former Standing
Interpretations Committee), and other documents, as issued by the
International Accounting Standards Board, is provided by BDO IFR
Advisory Limited, a UK registered company limited
by guarantee. Service provision within the BDO network is
coordinated by Brussels Worldwide Services BV, a limited liability
company incorporated in Belgium with its statutory seat in
Zaventem.

Each of BDO International Limited (the governing entity of the

BDO network), Brussels Worldwide Services BV, BDO IFR
Advisory Limited and the member firms is a separate legal
entity and has no liability for another such entity’s acts or
omissions. Nothing in the arrangements or
rules of the BDO network shall constitute or imply an agency
relationship or a partnership between BDO International Limited,
Brussels Worldwide Services BV, BDO IFR Advisory Limited and/or
the member firms of the BDO network.

BDO is the brand name for the BDO network and for each of
the BDO member firms.

© 2020 BDO IFR Advisory Limited, a UK registered company

limited by guarantee. All rights reserved.

www.bdo.global