Intangibles Project

Introduction

The UK Endorsement Board has undertaken a comprehensive research project to consider how the accounting for, and reporting of, Intangible Assets could be improved to provide investors with more useful general purpose financial statements to assist them to make better informed decisions.

The project has:

Explored UK stakeholders’ views on the accounting for intangibles under International Accounting Standards.
Reviewed the nature and extent of current reporting practices for intangibles among listed UK companies using IFRS standards.
Engaged with investors to better understand their perspectives on the current and future reporting of intangibles in the financial statements.

In April 2024 the IASB announced that it was commencing its comprehensive review of accounting requirements for intangibles. The project will assess whether the requirements of IAS 38 Intangible Assets remain relevant and continue to fairly reflect current business models or whether the IASB should improve the requirements.

The UKEB’s research reports can be found on this page.

The UKEB will use the findings from its reports as an evidence base in its future work on intangibles. It looks forward to contributing to future discussions on the accounting for intangibles.

Pauline Wallace, Chair of the UKEB said

“Intangibles make up a growing, and for some, extremely significant, proportion of the economic resources underpinning the growth in the value of UK companies, yet accounting standards have not kept page. The UKEB’s research will provide an important foundation for the UK’s response to this once in a generation opportunity for change”.

Other information

Background to the UKEB research project
UK Intellectual Property Office’s “Investing in innovation” event
- Seema Jamil-O’Neill, Technical Director at the UKEB, was a keynote speaker at the UK Intellectual Property Office’s “Investing in innovation” event on 19 March 2024. The event was hosted and addressed by the UK’s Minister for AI and IP Viscount Camrose at the House of Commons, and explored topics including IP financing and investment in the UK. Seema discussed the UKEB’s intangibles research project and the role of accounting in unlocking IP finance in the UK. It was clear from the discussion that followed that there is broad interest in the reporting of intangibles in the UK, and the work of the UKEB. Seema’s speech in full can be accessed here.