Let’s look at the major changes:
1. Principle of materiality
From accounting principles the principle of materiality has been specified. Accordingly, for the purposes of the financial statements, information is material if its omission or misstatement could influence – within reason – the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial statements. Each item shall be considered material in conjunction with other similar items.
2. The currency of the financial statements and bookkeeping
The bill clarifies that the currency of the economic entity’s financial statements and bookkeeping should be the same as the currency stipulated in the economic entity’s Deed of Company Formation. If forint has been stipulatedd in the Deed of Company Formation, the financial statements and bookkeeping shall be prepared in forints; if a currency other than forint has been specified, the financial statements and bookkeeping shall be prepared in the foreign currency stipulated in the Deed of Company Formation.
3. Recognition of grants
Good news for enterprises receiving EU or state grant that the recognition of grants will change. Ex-post financing is typical in the case of EU and domestically financed grant applications. Thus, in these cases, it is often the case that costs and expenses are already incurred in the given financial year, while the related revenue will only appear after the financial year concerned due to ex-post financing. For this reason, the economic entity will be loss-making in one financial year while in the other it will be profitable. In order to ensure that the principle of matching prevails, in such cases it is justified to temporarily defer the expected grant. For this, the enterprise shall demonstrate that it will comply with the conditions attached to the grant, and that the grant will probably be received.
4. Selling and assigning claims
The amendment to the law clarifies that in the case of sale (assignment) of claims shown under fixed assets, the result of the sale – whether positive or negative – shall be recognized as income from financial investments, capital gain, or expenses, losses on financial investments.
The economic events related to the sale (assignment) of original claim shown under current assets shall be recognized as other income or other expenditures, while the result of the economic events related to the sale (assignment) of purchased receivables shown under current assets shall be recognized as other income from financial transactions or other expenses on financial transactions.
