Accounting Standard (AS) 21^*

(revised 2016)

Consolidated Financial Statements ¹

[This Accounting Standard includes paragraphs set in bold italic type and plain type, which have equal authority. Paragraphs in bold italic type indicate the main principles. This Accounting Standard should be read in the context of its objective, the Preface to the Statements of Accounting Standards² and the ‘Applicability of Accounting Standards to Various Entities’ (See Appendix 1 to this Compendium).]

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to lay down principles and procedures for preparation and presentation of consolidated financial statements. Consolidated financial statements are presented by a parent (also known as holding enterprise) to provide financial information about the economic activities of its group. These statements are intended to present financial information about a parent and its subsidiary(ies) as a single economic entity to show the economic resources controlled by the group, the obligations of the group and results the group achieves with its resources.

Scope

1 This Standard should be applied in the preparation and presentation of consolidated financial statements for a group of enterprises under the control of a parent.

2 This Standard should also be applied in accounting for investments in subsidiaries in the separate financial statements of a parent.

3 In the preparation of consolidated financial statements, other Accounting Standards also apply in the same manner as they apply to the separate financial statements.

4 This Standard does not deal with:

• (a) methods of accounting for amalgamations and their effects on consolidation, including goodwill arising on amalgamation (see AS 14, Accounting for Amalgamations);
• (b) accounting for investments in associates (at present governed by AS 13, Accounting for Investments³); and
• (c) accounting for investments in joint ventures (at present governed by AS 13 , Accounting for Investments⁴ ).

Definitions

 5 For the purpose of this Standard, the following terms are used with the meanings specified:

 5.1 Control:

• (a) the ownership, directly or indirectly through subsidiary(ies), of more than one-half of the voting power of an enterprise; or 
• (b) control of the composition of the board of directors in the case of a company or of the composition of the corresponding governing body in case of any other enterprise so as to obtain economic benefits from its activities.

 5.2 A subsidiary is an enterprise that is controlled by another enterprise (known as the parent).

 5.3 A parent is an enterprise that has one or more subsidiaries.

 5.4 A group is a parent and all its subsidiaries.

 5.5 Consolidated financial statements are the financial statements of a group presented as those of a single enterprise.

 5.6 Equity is the residual interest in the assets of an enterprise after deducting all its liabilities.

 5.7 Minority interest is that part of the net results of operations and of the net assets of a subsidiary attributable to interests which are not owned, directly or indirectly through subsidiary(ies), by the parent.

6 Consolidated financial statements normally include consolidated balance sheet, consolidated statement of profit and loss, and notes, other statements and explanatory material that form an integral part thereof. Consolidated cash flow statement is presented in case a parent presents its own cash flow statement. The consolidated financial statements are presented, to the extent possible, in the same format as that adopted by the parent for its separate financial statements.

Explanation:

All the notes appearing in the separate financial statements of the parent enterprise and its subsidiaries need not be included in the notes to the consolidated financial statement. For preparing consolidated financial statements, the following principles may be observed in respect of notes and other explanatory material that form an integral part thereof:

• (a) Notes which are necessary for presenting a true and fair view of the consolidated financial statements are included in the consolidated financial statements as an integral part thereof.
• (b) Only the notes involving items which are material need to be disclosed. Materiality for this purpose is assessed in relation to the information contained in consolidated financial statements. In view of this, it is possible that certain notes which are disclosed in separate financial statements of a parent or a subsidiary would not be required to be disclosed in the consolidated financial statements when the test of materiality is applied in the context of consolidated financial statements.
• (c) Additional statutory information disclosed in separate financial statements of the subsidiary and/or a parent having no bearing on the true and fair view of the consolidated financial statements need not be disclosed in the consolidated financial statements.

Presentation of Consolidated Financial Statements

7 A parent which presents consolidated financial statements should present these statements in addition to its separate financial statements.

8 Users of the financial statements of a parent are usually concerned with, and need to be informed about, the financial position and results of operations of not only the enterprise itself but also of the group as a whole. This need is served by providing the users -

• (a) separate financial statements of the parent; and
• (b) consolidated financial statements, which present financial information about the group as that of a single enterprise without regard to the legal boundaries of the separate legal entities.

Scope of Consolidated Financial Statements

9 A parent which presents consolidated financial statements should consolidate all subsidiaries, domestic as well as foreign, other than those referred to in paragraph 11. Where an enterprise does not have a subsidiary but has an associate and/or a joint venture such an enterprise should also prepare consolidated financial statements in accordance with Accounting Standard (AS) 23, Accounting for Associates in Consolidated Financial Statements, and Accounting Standard (AS) 27, Financial Reporting of Interests in Joint Ventures respectively.

10 The consolidated financial statements are prepared on the basis of financial statements of parent and all enterprises that are controlled by the parent, other than those subsidiaries excluded for the reasons set out in paragraph 11. Control exists when the parent owns, directly or indirectly through subsidiary(ies), more than one-half of the voting power of an enterprise. Control also exists when an enterprise controls the composition of the board of directors (in the case of a company) or of the corresponding governing body (in case of an enterprise not being a company) so as to obtain economic benefits from its activities. An enterprise may control the composition of the governing bodies of entities such as gratuity trust, provident fund trust etc. Since the objective of control over such entities is not to obtain economic benefits from their activities, these are not considered for the purpose of preparation of consolidated financial statements. For the purpose of this Standard, an enterprise is considered to control the composition of:

• (i) the board of directors of a company, if it has the power, without the consent or concurrence of any other person, to appoint or remove all or a majority of directors of that company. An enterprise is deemed to have the power to appoint a director, if any of the following conditions is satisfied:
  • (a) a person cannot be appointed as director without the exercise in his favour by that enterprise of such a power as aforesaid; or
  • (b) a person’s appointment as director follows necessarily from his appointment to a position held by him in that enterprise; or
  • (c) the director is nominated by that enterprise or a subsidiary thereof.
• (ii) the governing body of an enterprise that is not a company, if it has the power, without the consent or the concurrence of any other person, to appoint or remove all or a majority of members of the governing body of that other enterprise. An enterprise is deemed to have the power to appoint a member, if any of the following conditions is satisfied:
  • (a) a person cannot be appointed as member of the governing body without the exercise in his favour by that other enterprise of such a power as aforesaid; or
  • (b) a person’s appointment as member of the governing body follows necessarily from his appointment to a position held by him in that other enterprise; or
  • (c) the member of the governing body is nominated by that other enterprise.

Explanation:

It is possible that an enterprise is controlled by two enterprises — one controls by virtue of ownership of majority of the voting power of that enterprise and other controls, by virtue of an agreement or otherwise, the composition of the board of directors so as to obtain economic benefit from its activities. In such a rare situation, when an enterprise is controlled by two enterprises as per the definition of ‘control’, the first mentioned enterprise will be considered as subsidiary of both the controlling enterprises within the meaning of this Standard and, therefore, both the enterprises need to consolidate the financial statements of that enterprise as per the requirements of this Standard.

 11 A subsidiary should be excluded from consolidation when:

• (a) control is intended to be temporary because the subsidiary is acquired and held exclusively with a view to its subsequent disposal in the near future; or
• (b) it operates under severe long-term restrictions which significantly impair its ability to transfer funds to the parent.

In consolidated financial statements, investments in such subsidiaries should be accounted for in accordance with Accounting Standard (AS) 13, Accounting for Investments. The reasons for not consolidating a subsidiary should be disclosed in the consolidated financial statements.

Explanation:

• (a) Where an enterprise owns majority of voting power by virtue of ownership of the shares of another enterprise and all the shares are held as ‘stock-in-trade’ and are acquired and held exclusively with a view to their subsequent disposal in the near future, the control by the first mentioned enterprise is considered to be temporary within the meaning of paragraph 11(a).
• (b) The period of time, which is considered as near future for the purposes of this Standard primarily depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. However, ordinarily, the meaning of the words ‘near future’ is considered as not more than twelve months from acquisition of relevant investments unless a longer period can be justified on the basis of facts and circumstances of the case. The intention with regard to disposal of the relevant investment is considered at the time of acquisition of the investment. Accordingly, if the relevant investment is acquired without an intention to its subsequent disposal in near future, and subsequently, it is decided to dispose off the investments, such an in- vestment is not excluded from consolidation, until the investment is actually disposed off. Conversely, if the relevant investment is acquired with an intention to its subsequent disposal in near future, but, due to some valid reasons, it could not be disposed off within that period, the same will continue to be excluded from consolidation, provided there is no change in the intention.

12 Exclusion of a subsidiary from consolidation on the ground that its business activities are dissimilar from those of the other enterprises within the group is not justified because better information is provided by consolidating such subsidiaries and disclosing additional information in the consolidated financial statements about the different business activities of subsidiaries. For example, the disclosures required by Accounting Standard (AS) 17, Segment Reporting, help to explain the significance of different business activities within the group.

Consolidation Procedures

13 In preparing consolidated financial statements, the financial statements of the parent and its subsidiaries should be combined on a line by line basis by adding together like items of assets, liabilities, income and expenses. In order that the consolidated financial statements present financial information about the group as that of a single enterprise, the following steps should be taken:

• (a) the cost to the parent of its investment in each subsidiary and the parent’s portion of equity of each subsidiary, at the date on which investment in each subsidiary is made, should be eliminated;
• (b) any excess of the cost to the parent of its investment in a subsidiary over the parent’s portion of equity of the subsidiary, at the date on which investment in the subsidiary is made, should be described as goodwill to be recognised as an asset in the consolidated financial statements;
• (c) when the cost to the parent of its investment in a subsidiary is less than the parent’s portion of equity of the subsidiary, at the date on which investment in the subsidiary is made, the difference should be treated as a capital reserve in the consolidated financial statements;
• (d) minority interests in the net income of consolidated subsidiaries for the reporting period should be identified and adjusted against the income of the group in order to arrive at the net income attributable to the owners of the parent; and
• (e) minority interests in the net assets of consolidated subsidiaries should be identified and presented in the consolidated balance sheet separately from liabilities and the equity of the parent’s shareholders. Minority interests in the net assets consist of:
  • (i) the amount of equity attributable to minorities at the date on which investment in a subsidiary is made; and
  • (ii) the minorities’ share of movements in equity since the date the parent-subsidiary relationship came in existence.

Where the carrying amount of the investment in the subsidiary is different from its cost, the carrying amount is considered for the purpose of above computations.

Explanation:

• (a) The tax expense (comprising current tax and deferred tax) to be shown in the consolidated financial statements should be the aggregate of the amounts of tax expense appearing in the separate financial statements of the parent and its subsidiaries.
• (b) The parent’s share in the post-acquisition reserves of a subsidiary, forming part of the corresponding reserves in the consolidated balance sheet, is not required to be disclosed separately in the consolidated balance sheet keeping in view the objective of consolidated financial statements to present financial information of the group as a whole. In view of this, the consolidated reserves disclosed in the consolidated balance sheet are inclusive of the parent’s share in the post-acquisition reserves of a subsidiary.

14 The parent’s portion of equity in a subsidiary, at the date on which investment is made, is determined on the basis of information contained in the financial statements of the subsidiary as on the date of investment. However, if the financial statements of a subsidiary, as on the date of investment, are not available and if it is impracticable to draw the financial statements of the subsidiary as on that date, financial statements of the subsidiary for the immediately preceding period are used as a basis for consolidation. Adjustments are made to these financial statements for the effects of significant transactions or other events that occur between the date of such financial statements and the date of investment in the subsidiary.

15 If an enterprise makes two or more investments in another enterprise at different dates and eventually obtains control of the other enterprise, the consolidated financial statements are presented only from the date on which holding-subsidiary relationship comes in existence. If two or more investments are made over a period of time, the equity of the subsidiary at the date of investment, for the purposes of paragraph 13 above, is generally determined on a step-by-step basis; however, if small investments are made over a period of time and then an investment is made that results in control, the date of the latest investment, as a practicable measure, may be considered as the date of investment.

16 Intragroup balances and intragroup transactions and resulting unrealised profits should be eliminated in full. Unrealised losses resulting from intragroup transactions should also be eliminated unless cost cannot be recovered.

17 Intragroup balances and intragroup transactions, including sales, expenses and dividends, are eliminated in full. Unrealised profits resulting from intragroup transactions that are included in the carrying amount of assets, such as inventory and fixed assets, are eliminated in full. Unrealised losses resulting from intragroup transactions that are deducted in arriving at the carrying amount of assets are also eliminated unless cost cannot be recovered.

18. The financial statements used in the consolidation should be drawn up to the same reporting date. If it is not practicable to draw up the financial statements of one or more subsidiaries to such date and, accordingly, those financial statements are drawn up to different reporting dates, adjustments should be made for the effects of significant transactions or other events that occur between those dates and the date of the parent’s financial statements. In any case, the difference between reporting dates should not be more than six months.

19 The financial statements of the parent and its subsidiaries used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements are usually drawn up to the same date. When the reporting dates are different, the subsidiary often prepares, for consolidation purposes, statements as at the same date as that of the parent. When it is impracticable to do this, financial statements drawn up to different reporting dates may be used provided the difference in reporting dates is not more than six months. The consistency principle requires that the length of the reporting periods and any difference in the reporting dates should be the same from period to period.

 20 Consolidated financial statements should be prepared using uniform accounting policies for like transactions and other events in similar circumstances. If it is not practicable to use uniform accounting policies in preparing the consolidated financial statements, that fact should be disclosed together with the proportions of the items in the consolidated financial statements to which the different accounting policies have been applied.

21 If a member of the group uses accounting policies other than those adopted in the consolidated financial statements for like transactions and events in similar circumstances, appropriate adjustments are made to its financial statements when they are used in preparing the consolidated financial statements.

22 The results of operations of a subsidiary are included in the consolidated financial statements as from the date on which parent-subsidiary relationship came in existence. The results of operations of a subsidiary with which parent- subsidiary relationship ceases to exist are included in the consolidated statement of profit and loss until the date of cessation of the relationship. The difference between the proceeds from the disposal of investment in a subsidiary and the carrying amount of its assets less liabilities as of the date of disposal is recognised in the consolidated statement of profit and loss as the profit or loss on the disposal of the investment in the subsidiary. In order to ensure the comparability of the financial statements from one accounting period to the next, supplementary information is often provided about the effect of the acquisition and disposal of subsidiaries on the financial position at the reporting date and the results for the reporting period and on the corresponding amounts for the preceding period.

23 An investment in an enterprise should be accounted for in accordance with Accounting Standard (AS) 13, Accounting for Investments, from the date that the enterprise ceases to be a subsidiary and does not become an associate⁵.

24 The carrying amount of the investment at the date that it ceases to be a subsidiary is regarded as cost thereafter.

25. Minority interests should be presented in the consolidated balance sheet separately from liabilities and the equity of the parent’s shareholders. Minority interests in the income of the group should also be separately presented.

26 The losses applicable to the minority in a consolidated subsidiary may exceed the minority interest in the equity of the subsidiary. The excess, and any further losses applicable to the minority, are adjusted against the majority interest except to the extent that the minority has a binding obligation to, and is able to, make good the losses. If the subsidiary subsequently reports profits, all such profits are allocated to the majority interest until the minority’s share of losses previously absorbed by the majority has been recovered.

27 If a subsidiary has outstanding cumulative preference shares which are held outside the group, the parent computes its share of profits or losses after adjusting for the subsidiary’s preference dividends, whether or not dividends have been declared.

Accounting for Investments in Subsidiaries in a Parent’s Separate Financial Statements

28 In a parent’s separate financial statements, investments in subsidiaries should be accounted for in accordance with Accounting Standard (AS) 13, Accounting for Investments.

Disclosure

29 In addition to disclosures required by paragraph 11 and 20, following disclosures should be made:

• (a) in consolidated financial statements a list of all subsidiaries including the name, country of incorporation or residence, proportion of ownership interest and, if different, proportion of voting power held;
• (b) in consolidated financial statements, where applicable:
  • (i) the nature of the relationship between the parent and a subsidiary, if the parent does not own, directly or indirectly through subsidiaries, more than one-half of the voting power of the subsidiary;
  • (ii) the effect of the acquisition and disposal of subsidiaries on the financial position at the reporting date, the results for the reporting period and on the corresponding amounts for the preceding period; and
  • (ii) the names of the subsidiary(ies) of which reporting date(s) is/are different from that of the parent and the difference in reporting dates.

Transitional Provisions⁶

30 On the first occasion that consolidated financial statements are presented, comparative figures for the previous period need not be presented. In all subsequent years full comparative figures for the previous period should be presented in the consolidated financial statements .

Footnotes

^*The Standard was originally issued in 2001. The Standard was revised by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, vide Notification dated 30th March, 2016, which was relevant for companies following Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2006 and which should be used for preparation of accounts for accounting periods commencing on or after the date of notification. The Standard was revised for entities other than companies in 2016 by the Council of the ICAI and applicable for accounting periods commencing on or after April 1, 2017 (see Announcement XLV). Consequent to this revision, paragraph 9 was revised. The Standard has been notified as part of Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2021, under Companies Act, 2013.

¹It is clarified that AS 21 does not require an enterprise to presents consolidated financial statements. In other words, the accounting standard does not mandate an enterprise to present consolidated financial statements but, if the enterprise presents consolidated financial statements for complying with the requirements of any statute or otherwise, it should prepare and present consolidated financial statements in accordance with AS 21. (See Appendix 1 ‘Applicability of Accounting Standards to Various Entities’ to this Compendium).

²Attention is specifically drawn to paragraph 4.3 of the Preface, according to which Accounting Standards are intended to apply only to items which are material.

³Accounting Standard (AS) 23, Accounting for Investments in Associates in Consolidated Financial Statements, specifies the requirements relating to accounting for investments in associates in Consolidated Financial Statements.

⁴Accounting Standard (AS) 27, Financial Reporting of Interests in Joint Ventures, specifies the requirements relating to accounting for investments in joint ventures.

⁵Accounting Standard (AS) 23, Accounting for Investments in Associates in Consolidated Financial Statements, defines the term ‘associate’ and specifies the requirements relating to accounting for investments in associates in Consolidated Financial Statements.

⁶Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, inserted the following footnote in Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2021,which is relevant for companies: “Transitional Provisions given in Paragraph 30 are relevant for standards notified under Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2006 (as amended from time to time) as well as Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2021.”