"As at" on balance sheet

Sorry, but after reviewing the thread again, I don’t see the erroneous assertion in the contributors request/comments. Nor do I see a contradiction in usage or requirements (traditional or current). Just not sure where you are going with all of that.
VR

The original poster claimed “as of” is a requirement under GAAP. It isn’t. He then supported that claim by citing a regulation that does not address the issue. Meanwhile the developer wrote that “as at” is an Australian requirement. Traditional usage of “as at” can be found in online examples and public company reports.

But this non-issue has been beaten to death.

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My apologies but I am still not with you, and would offer the following:
A. You are asserting that contributor “”claimed “as of” is a requirement under GAAP””. The original contributor did NOT say that. The original contributor said ““As at” is NOT GAAP form in USA”. Distinct difference.
B. You also asserted that original contributor “”supported that claim by citing a regulation that does not address the issue.”” The Contributor submitted Reg. S-X. By your admission, you stated “”Regulation S-X Rule 3-01(a), which specifies balance sheet submission requirements for SEC registrants in the USA, uses the phrase as of””
C. You wrote “You cannot change it [“as at”] on the report.”” The original contributor responded saying “”there should be a way to accommodate different countries; however, if the answer is NO, then we are where we are.””. To me the contributor was responding to your answer, and saying ‘OK, we are where we are, and I got my answer’.
D. After C above, many others jumped into the various message replies, including the developer, and contributor’s original request/comment seems to have developed a life of it’s own.
VR

Regulation S-X Rule 3-01(a)

And a search of that document shows “As of” is used in may places in the English description of what financial data the various reports must contain. In contrast I could find no requirement for any of the reports to use that or any other label.

“As of” is a valid label, but it is not the only valid label or English term.

If it was actually worth changing, in my opinion a better label for printable reports is “At the close of”
For the “Summary” page “Balance Sheet” when a time range is specified a label of “At the close of” < date > is also more accurate. When a time range is not specified a label of “Current” would be more accurate but would not as clearly excluded future dated transactions.

But I do not believe than any of the options discussed are actually wrong in any jurisdiction.

PS
Also note the cited document uses “as of” to refer to the end of a financial period (which is a specific instant in time) not a date (which lasts 24 hours).

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Just my views, of course, but…

In the course of my career, I have reviewed and analysed hundreds of financial reports from public listed companies in the consulting engineering and construction sectors from many countries including New Zealand, Australia, UK, France, Sweden, Denmark, India, Canada, and the USA. I checked a sample of these from my archives earlier today. There is no prescribed term to use in the International Accounting Standards (IAS), nor the related International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS). However, following examples given relating to the above standards and derivatives thereof, the most common phrase when referring to a date on the Balance Sheet (aka the Statement of Financial Position) is “as at”. I have never seen the term “as of” used. In all USA company reporting cases I have seen for public listed companies, neither term is used (just a date is given above each column of reported data). Unless requirements have changed in the last three years, the USA companies report using Form 10-K in accordance with Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Cheers… Richard

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I think the only basis for change to 'as of ’ will be a regulation or standard. If there is a standard that says so, then it should be considered. But honestly I have never seen ‘as of’ in Nigeria, at least. It is usually ‘as at’ which actually means ‘at a point in time’.
Another basis for considering change if a particular region or country uses the ‘as of’, though it is not appropriate to adopt it if there is no basis of a standard.
My opinion is lets leave it as is or provide option of entering the date by users.

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True, it has fallen out of use within the schedules of financial statemets and notes, but you can still find it everywhere else in the statements, it is after all the preferred term in the US.

Personally, I like what Patch proposed: “At the close of” which is not only a good compromise, but it is the only modifier that is both linguistically and logically correct. I suggest adding "As " at the beginning of it, or leave it as is which is completely fine.

@ Gillrich reported “I have never seen the term “as of” used. In all USA company reporting cases I have seen for public listed companies neither term is used (just a date is given above each column of reported data).”

The following are just 3 examples of U.S. public companies (shares owned) using “As of” on the their balance sheet:

  • Netflix, Inc. 10-K 2018; p. 46 of 78
  • NEWS CORPORATION Annual Report 2018 (with 10K); p. 92 of the 10K (or p. 104 of document)
  • Walmart Inc. Annual Report 2018 (with 10K); p. 52 of the 10K (or p. 58 of document)

I’m aware other companies use different formats; e.g., fiscal year ending, as at, date only above col., et al; and I have those examples as well.

One alternative solution is having that field specified as user input…….IMO of course.

A balance sheet (by default) represents the position of the business at the close of trade.
It never represents or refers to any other point of the trading day.

Therefore you have:
As at (5.00 pm) 31/12/xxxx
As of (5.00 pm) 31/12/xxxx

As business’s can have different closing times (4.30 v’s 5.00), the time is not stated.

As at is the correct terminology, sounds better too :smile:

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@anon5385611 I had a buddy make the change to the reports to read “As Of”. problem solved.

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Yep - get a buddy!
IMO - ‘As Of’ is horrible!

@qak
Yep - get a life!
IMO - ‘As At’ is horrible!