An analysis of the financial reporting compliance of South African public agricultural companies

Abstract

This article assesses the extent to which South African public companies that are engaged in agricultural activities are complying with the compulsory recognition and measurement and compulsory and voluntary disclosure requirements of IAS 41 Agriculture. Sixteen large South African public companies with material holdings of biological assets in their statements of financial position were selected for analysis. The results of the analysis show that the majority of South African agricultural companies are using fair value to measure their biological assets at initial recognition as well as at the end of each reporting period. Most of these companies are complying with the compulsory disclosure requirements of IAS 41, and are also providing certain of the recommended voluntary disclosures listed in IAS 41. The study concludes that the measurement methods used by companies to value their biological assets and the nature and extent of both compulsory and voluntary disclosures of these assets are sector-specific. This is consistent with previous research findings. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing a baseline on the financial reporting of agricultural entities in South Africa prior to the implementation of IFRS 13.