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What are extraordinary items? Should they need to be recorded in any financial statement?

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Question added by Sara Khan , financial and admin assistant , Ministry Of Defence
Date Posted: 2014/09/18
SREEDEVI SUNILKUMAR
by SREEDEVI SUNILKUMAR , Business finance officer , Emirates Airline

An extraordinary item in accounting is an event or transaction that is considered abnormal, not related to ordinary company activities, and unlikely to recur in the foreseeable future. The reporting of an extraordinary item should be an extremely rare event. In nearly all cases, an event or transaction is considered to be part of the normal operating activities of a business, and should be reported as such. Thus, a business may never report an extraordinary item.

GAAP specifically states that write-offs, write-downs, gains, or losses on the following items are not to be treated as extraordinary items:

  • Abandonment of property
  • Accruals on long-term contracts
  • Disposal of a component of an entity
  • Effects of a strike
  • Equipment leased to others
  • Foreign currency exchange
  • Foreign currency translation
  • Intangible assets
  • Inventories
  • Receivables
  • Sale of property

Examples of items that could be classified as extraordinary are the destruction of facilities by an earthquake, or the destruction of a vineyard by a hailstorm in a region where hailstorm damage is rare. Conversely, an example of an item that does not qualify as extraordinary is weather-related crop damage in a region where such crop damage is relatively frequent.

The intent behind reporting extraordinary items within separate line items in the income statement is to clarify for the reader which items are totally unrelated to the operational and financial results of the business.

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) do not use the concept of an extraordinary item at all.

Disclosure of Extraordinary Items

You should classify an extraordinary item separately in the income statement if it meets any of the following criteria:

  • It is material in relation to income before extraordinary items
  • It is material to the trend of annual earnings before extraordinary items
  • It is material by other criteria

Extraordinary items should be presented separately, and after the results of ordinary operations in the income statement, along with disclosure of the nature of the items, and net of related income taxes.

If extraordinary items are reported on the income statement, then earnings per share information for the extraordinary items must be presented either in the income statement or in the accompanying notes.

To report extraordinary items properly, it is best to set up the chart of accounts with an extraordinary items account which is referenced by the accounting report writer to automatically include an extraordinary item line in the income statement.

kuldeep singh
by kuldeep singh , Assistant Manager, Finance & Accounts , ISS Facility Services India Pvt. Ltd

Yes, Extraordinary items should be recorded in the books of accounts.

Events, Research etc are the examples of extraordinary items...

Abdul Wahab
by Abdul Wahab , Credit Controller , Takween Advanced Industries

In every country the list of chart of accounts is different coz of other assets, Govt charges fees etc..

So financial statements varies according to countries but remember format is standard.

Subrahmanyam Lingamallu
by Subrahmanyam Lingamallu , Accounting Director , Nadec

An extraordinary item in accounting is an event or transaction that is considered abnormal, not related to ordinary company activities, and unlikely to recur in the foreseeable future. The reporting of an extraordinary item should be an extremely rare event. In nearly all cases, an event or transaction is considered to be part of the normal operating activities of a business, and should be reported as such.

 

Extraordinary items should be presented separately, and after the results of ordinary operations in the income statement, along with disclosure of the nature of the items, and net of related income taxes.

If extraordinary items are reported on the income statement, then earnings per share information for the extraordinary items must be presented either in the income statement or in the accompanying notes.

 

georgei assi
by georgei assi , مدير حسابات , المجموعة السورية

Agreed with colleagues answers

Any event or transaction that is material, and both unusual in nature and infrequent in occurrence, should be reported separately on the statement of income in the section Extraordinary Items. The gain or loss from these items should be reported net of tax, and each extraordinary item should be reported separately.

Extraordinary items as the name suggests are those expenses or losses which are not of recurring nature and are not incurred in normal course of business. Losses due to theft, fire or any other accident are included in extraordinary items.

 

Yes, of course all extraordinary items should be recorded in the financial statement to give correct picture of net profit or loss for the period. But, ideally extraordinary items should not be mixed up with normal profits and losses and should be reported as Other Income / Losses after Net Income from Operations.

Abed Hasan Abdullah  Othman
by Abed Hasan Abdullah Othman , general accountant , Atyaby for trading

An extraordinary item in accounting is an event or transaction that is considered abnormal, not related to ordinary company activities, and unlikely to recur in the foreseeable future. The reporting of an extraordinary item should be an extremely rare event. In nearly all cases, an event or transaction is considered to be part of the normal operating activities of a business, and should be reported as such. Thus, a business may never report an extraordinary item.

Khan Sohal khan
by Khan Sohal khan , Associate , State Street Syntel Services Pvt Ltd.

Thanks for invite, extraordinary expenses are of non recurring nature such as loss due to natural calamities, sale of fixed asset lower than its fair value and theft.etc.It is seperately shown in income statement so as to reveal true and fair view of net profit.

Net profit after tax is350$,tax is10%,and loss of extraordinary items is30$. It is shown as below.

Net profit after tax                                            350

-- loss under extraordinary items (30-3 tax)  27$

net profit after tax and extraordinary items323$ 

Shamel Rashad, CMA
by Shamel Rashad, CMA , Advisor to the Chairman on Financial Control , Bavaria Egypt

An extraordinary item is any gain or loss that is not expected to be recurring in the normal course of operations.

 

Examples are numerous, but some more familiar ones are:

Loss from accidents or natural disasters.

Gain/Losses resulting from revaluations.

Investment Write-Off.

Debt to Equity Transactions where the equity repayment doesn't cover the full debt.

 

Disclosure of extra-ordinary items differs based on the country of reporting.

 

IFRS does not recognize the concept of extra-ordinary items, as such, they're reported as part of net income.

 

US GAAP does make the distinction and allows for extra-ordinary items to be reported net of taxes separately from Income from Ongoing Operations.

VENKITARAMAN KRISHNA MOORTHY VRINDAVAN
by VENKITARAMAN KRISHNA MOORTHY VRINDAVAN , Project Execution Manager & Accounts Manager , ALI INTERNATIONAL TRADING EST.

I support the answer given by:  Ms.  Sreedevi SunilKumar.

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