borrower fails to make required payments. A mortgage contract
describes the mortgage terms.
1. Accounting for mortgage notes and bonds—same as accounting
for unsecured notes and bonds.
2. Mortgage agreements must be disclosed in financial statements.
V. Global View
A. Accounting for Bonds and Notes – The definitions and characteristics of
bonds and notes are broadly similar for both GAAP and IFRS.
1. Both systems allow companies to account for bonds and notes
using the fair value option method. This method is similar to
that applied to measuring and accounting for debt and equity
securities.
2. Fair value is the amount a company would receive if it settled a
liability in an orderly transaction as of the balance sheet date.
3. Companies can use several sources of inputs to determine fair
value which fall into three classes:
a. Level 1: observable quoted market price in active markets for
identical items
b. Level 2: observable inputs other than those in Level 1
c. Level 3: observable inputs reflecting a company’s
assumptions about value.
B. Accounting for Leases and Pensions – Both GAAP and IFRS require
companies to distinguish between operating leases and capital leases;
the latter is referred to as finance leases under IFRS. Both systems
account for leases in a similar manner. The main difference is the
criteria for identifying a lease as a capital lease are more general under
IFRS. Lease accounting is changing in the next year or so.
Collateral Agreements—reduce the risk of loss for both bonds and notes;
unsecured bonds and notes are riskier because the issuer’s obligation to
pay interest and principal has the same priority as all other unsecured
liabilities in the event of bankruptcy.
A. Features of Bonds and Notes
1. Secured or Unsecured
a. Secured bonds and notes have specific assets of the issuer
pledged (or mortgaged) as collateral.
b. Unsecured bonds and notes also called debentures, are backed
by the issuer’s general credit standing. Unsecured debt is
riskier than secured debt.