1. Translation of the accounts of foreign operations
Chapter 32
Translation of the accounts of foreign operations
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

2. Objectives
Understand why it is necessary to translate the accounts of foreign subsidiaries to Australian dollars before the consolidation process is performed
Understand what rates to use when translating the accounts of a foreign operation
Understand that any gain or loss on translation of a foreign operation’s accounts is to go to equity and not be treated as part of the profit or loss of the period (until such time as the foreign operation is sold)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

3. Introduction to translating the accounts of foreign operations
Consolidation process involves combining the accounts of a parent and its controlled entities
If some of the controlled entities are foreign entities with account balances denominated in foreign currencies, there is a need to translate these accounts to a given presentation currency (e.g. Australian dollars) before the consolidation process
Accounting standard relating to the translation of foreign subsidiaries is AASB 121 ‘The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates’
(continues)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

4. Introduction to translating the accounts of foreign operations (cont.)
Note AASB 121 now permits selection of a presentation currency, which need not be Australian dollars
A single method of translation is to be used to translate the accounts of foreign subsidiaries into a particular presentation currency
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

5. Translation of the accounts of foreign operations
Under approach required by AASB 121:
All assets and liabilities of a foreign operation are basically translated using the spot rate applicable at reporting date
Income and expenses are translated at the exchange rates in place at the dates of the various transactions
If expense and revenue transactions are considered to occur uniformly throughout the period, average rates may be used
Any resulting translation gains or losses are taken directly to reserves (rather than to profit or loss)
Refer to AASB 121, pars 39, 40 and 41
(continues)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

6. Translation of the accounts of foreign operations (cont.)
Gains or losses on translation
If the assets of the foreign operation exceed its liabilities (shareholders’ funds are positive) and if the value of the Australian dollar falls relative to the currency of the foreign operation, there will be a credit to the foreign currency translation reserve—otherwise, there will be a debit to the foreign currency translation reserve
(continues)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

7. Translation of the accounts of foreign operations (cont.)
Note that AASB 121 (par. 39) outlines method for translating the assets, liabilities, income and expenses of a foreign entity but is silent on the translation of:
equity at the date of investment, that is pre-acquisition capital and reserves
post-acquisition movements in equity other than retained profits or accumulated losses; and
distributions from retained profits.
Result:
Approach to be adopted is to apply treatment required by superseded AASB 1012, using what was referred to as the ‘current-rate method’
(continues)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

8. Translation of the accounts of foreign operations (cont.)
Approach to translating the accounts of a foreign subsidiary is as follows (refer to page 1083 of the text):
Assets and liabilities are translated at the exchange rate current at reporting date
Equity at the date of the investment, including in the case of a corporation, share capital at acquisition and pre-acquisition reserves, is translated at the exchange rate current at that date
Post-acquisition movements in equity, other than retained profits (surplus) or accumulated losses (deficiency), are translated at the exchange rates current at the date of those movements, except that where a movement represents a transfer between items within equity the movement is translated at the exchange rate current at the date that the amount transferred or returned was first included in equity
Distributions from retained profits (that is, dividends paid or proposed, or their equivalent) are translated at the exchange rates current at the dates when the distributions were first proposed
Revenue and expense items are translated at the exchange rates current at the applicable transaction dates
(continues)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

9. Translation of the accounts of foreign operations (cont.)
Summary of the method to be applied for foreign currency translation (Table 32.1 on page 1084 of the text)
ITEM RATE
Income statement items
Revenues Average rate for the year
Expenses (apart from the Average rate for the year
amortisation or depreciation
of non-current assets)
Depreciation/Amortisation Average rate for the year
Income tax expense Average rate for the year
Dividends paid/proposed Rate when paid/proposed
(continues)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

10. Translation of the accounts of foreign operations (cont.)
Summary of the method to be applied for foreign currency translation (per table 32.1 text page 1084)
ITEM RATE
Balance sheet items
Assets Rate at reporting date
Liabilities Rate at reporting date
Share capital and reserves Rate when investment acquired
at the date of acquisition
Post-acquisition movements Rate at the date they were
share capital and reserves recognised in the accounts
(excluding retained earnings/
accumulated losses)
Post-acquisition retained Amount determined from income
earnings statement
(continues)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

11. Translation of the accounts of foreign operations (cont.)
Refer to Worked Example 32.1 on pp. 1084–7—Translation of a a foreign operation’s financial statements
Note foreign currency translation reserve
All assets and liabilities of the foreign subsidiary are translated at the reporting date spot rate
Individual components of owners’ equity translated differently
Share capital translated using the rate in place when the investment was acquired
Retained earnings is the balance provided from the income statement
Translation gain remains part of equity
(continues)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

12. Translation of the accounts of foreign operations (cont.)
Foreign currency translation reserve (cont.)
Net assets at reporting date (current rate) XXXX
Less components of net assets at their
historical rates:
– Share capital (XXXX)
– Retained earnings from income statement (XXXX)
Translation gain $XXX
to foreign currency translation reserve
Assuming the exchange rate has moved against the Australian $:
Assets exceed liabilities—a gain would arise on the assets and a loss would arise on the liabilities
As assets exceed liabilities, a net gain is credited to the foreign currency translation reserve
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

13. Consolidation subsequent to translation
After translation of foreign subsidiary’s financial statements, consolidation takes place according to normal principles (refer to Chapters 26 to 28)
Cost of investment eliminated against pre-acquisition capital and reserves of controlled entities, with resultant goodwill or discount being recognised
Pre-acquisition capital and reserves are translated at the rates in place when the investment was acquired, i.e. same rates used each year so the goodwill or discount recognised on consolidation does not fluctuate
(continues)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

14. Consolidation subsequent to translation (cont.)
Minority interests will be determined following translation of accounts
Foreign currency translation reserve will reside in the subsidiaries’ balance sheets before the consolidation adjustments and the minority interests will be allocated a proportion of this reserve
Inter-entity sales of inventory are eliminated
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

15. Summary
AASB 121 ‘The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates’ effects considerable changes to the requirements previously contained in AASB 1012 ‘Foreign Currency Translation’
No longer are foreign operations classified as either self-sustaining (current-rate method adopted for translation) or integrated (temporal method adopted for translation)
AASB 121 requires only one approach to be used for translating the accounts of foreign operations—basically equivalent to the current-rate method
(continues)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

16. Summary (cont.)
All assets and liabilities of a foreign operation are basically translated using the spot rate applicable at reporting date
Income and expenses are translated at the exchange rates in place at the dates of the various transactions
If expense and revenue transactions are considered to occur uniformly throughout the period, average rates may be used
Any resulting translation gains or losses are taken directly to reserves (rather than to profit or loss)
Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan

17. Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Financial Accounting 4e by Craig Deegan