Developers stall on FRS 15

Property accounting experts have questioned some major companies’ commitment to the Accounting Standards Board’s FRS 15, the new standard for tangible fixed assets.

Following the publication of the standard last week, Nicky Wilden, director of Jones Lang Wootton Finance, said she was surprised that the FRED 17 exposure draft had not prompted companies to identify their property holdings and carry out strategic reviews.

This would ensure organisations maximised shareholder value by both the way the property was held and the way it was used.

‘A sound database and understanding of underlying values of the portfolio should provide the foundation of an essential management tool for all property divisions,’ Wilden said.

The standard will affect accounts for the period ending on or after 23 March 2000, so companies still have time to prepare for it if they wish.

ASB assistant technical director Andrew Lennard said: ‘We think we gave very adequate notice of the publication of FRS 15, and plenty of time has been allowed for those who want to live within the regime to prepare.

‘But if some companies feel it excessively burdens them they do not have to do it.’