Topic 10 · IFRS 3

Business combinations

How an acquirer identifies a business combination and measures the assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date; ongoing goodwill accounting is covered in intangibles-goodwill.

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Standard-setter changes on this topic

  • 2024-03-27FRS 102
    The Periodic Review left Section 19's purchase-method model, capitalised and amortised goodwill, and proportionate-share non-controlling interest substantively unchanged, while the parallel changes to Section 20 Leases move lessees onto an IFRS 16-style model. Effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026. Effective 2026-01-01.
  • 2023-03-27US GAAP
    Not a business-combinations amendment itself, but a reminder that common-control transactions, including those effected as a combination, follow ASC 805-50 rather than the acquisition method; the ASU gives private companies a practical expedient for leasehold terms in a common-control arrangement. Effective for fiscal years beginning after 15 December 2023. Effective 2024-01-01.
  • 2018-10-22IFRS
    Narrows and clarifies the definition of a business, adding an optional concentration test that lets an acquirer treat a set as an asset acquisition when substantially all of the fair value acquired sits in a single asset or group of similar assets. Effective for acquisitions on or after 1 January 2020. Effective 2020-01-01.
  • 2017-01-05US GAAP
    Adds a screen test — if substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar assets, the set is not a business — and clarifies the inputs-and-substantive-process requirement, converging the US GAAP definition of a business toward the direction IFRS 3 later took. Effective for fiscal years beginning after 15 December 2017 for public business entities. Effective 2018-01-01.
  • 2015-09-25US GAAP
    Requires an acquirer to recognise a measurement-period adjustment in the period it is identified, with the effect on earlier periods shown supplementally rather than by retrospectively restating comparatives, moving US GAAP away from the retrospective adjustment IFRS 3.49 still requires. Effective for fiscal years beginning after 15 December 2015 for public business entities. Effective 2016-01-01.