Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE)

Revised standard - Related Party Transactions - Combination involving a business under common control

The AcSB issued amendments to Section 3840, Related Party Transactions in December 2025 to provide an option in paragraph 3840.44(b) to account for the combined enterprise either as a new entity or as a continuation of one of the combining enterprises. This option is available when carrying values are used to account for a combination involving a business under common control and an enterprise chooses to account for the combination prospectively from the transaction date. The option to account for the combination retrospectively for the entire period in which the combination occurred and for all prior periods remains available.

The amendments also require an enterprise to disclose of the option chosen to present the earnings, assets and liabilities of the combined enterprises, for each transaction, when applying paragraph 3840.44(b).

Consequential amendments include changes to Section 1582, Business Combinations and Section 3856, Financial Instruments to the language used to describe transactions that are outside the scope of these standards, to be consistent with the language used in paragraph 3840.44.

Effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026, with early application permitted.

Revised standard – Agriculture

The AcSB issued amendments to Section 3041, Agriculture in November 2025 that removed certain disclosure requirements for agricultural inventories and clarify the amortization requirement in paragraph 3041.66 for productive biological assets managed on a collective basis. The amendments also clarify the accounting when there is a change to the useful life of productive biological assets.

Consequential amendments have also been made to Section 1520, Income Statement to remove the requirements to present or disclose certain amounts pertaining to agricultural inventories.

Effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2027, with early application permitted.

New accounting guideline – Accounting for Life Insurance Contracts with Cash Surrender Value

The AcSB issued new Accounting Guideline AcG-21, Accounting for Life Insurance Contracts with Cash Surrender Value in September 2024. The Guideline provides guidance on recognition and measurement of cash surrender value of a life insurance policy, presentation and disclosure of policy premiums and changes in cash surrender value.

Effective for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026, with earlier application permitted.

Section 1500, First-time Adoption has been amended to permit a first-time adopter to apply the transitional provisions in AcG-21.

Section 1582, Business Combinations has been amended to provide an exception to the requirement to measure identifiable assets at their acquisition-date fair values for cash surrender value.

Revised standard – Revenue – Upfront non-refundable fees or payments

The AcSB issued amendments to Section 3400, Revenue in May 2024 to indefinitely defer the effective date of application guidance for upfront non-refundable fees or payments that were issued in December 2019. Earlier application is permitted, including in financial statements not yet authorized for issue.

The amendments also require an enterprise to disclose the nature and amount of upfront non-refundable fees or payments recognized in revenue when the enterprise recognizes the fee or payment in revenue upon entering into the arrangement.

The disclosure requirement is effective for annual financial statements relating to fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, with earlier application permitted.

In April 2025, the AcSB noted that it will consider resuming its research project on Revenue-Upfront Non-refundable Fees or Payments when discussing its future agenda priorities.

Revised standards: Accounting for common control combinations

The AcSB issued amendments to Section 3840, Related Party Transactions in September 2023 to:

• clarify that business combinations under common control that meet the criteria specified in paragraph 3840.44(a) should be accounted for in accordance with Section 1582, Business Combinations and the reference to “exchange amount” previously included in paragraph 3840.44(a) has been removed; and
• provide an option in paragraph 3840.44(b) to either retrospectively restate all prior periods when carrying amounts are used to account for a combination or prospectively account for these transactions.

Amendments to Section 3856, Financial Instruments have also been issued to clarify that financial assets acquired, or financial liabilities assumed when a business is transferred between two enterprises under common control are to be measured using the principles in Section 3840.44, not Section 3856.

Effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025, with early application permitted.

New accounting guideline – Customer’s accounting for cloud computing arrangements

The AcSB issued new accounting guideline (AcG-20) on accounting for cloud computing arrangements that is applicable to private enterprises and NFPOs in November 2022. The guideline provides guidance on:

• accounting for a customer’s expenditures in a cloud computing arrangement
• determining whether a software intangible asset exists in the arrangement

The guideline also includes an optional simplification approach to permit an enterprise to expense as incurred the expenditures related to the elements in the arrangement within the scope of Section 3064, Goodwill and Intangible Assets.

Effective for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2024, with earlier application permitted.

Section 1506, Accounting Changes has been amended to include AcG-20 as a situation when an enterprise may change its accounting policy without meeting the “more relevant information” criterion described in paragraph 1506.06(b).

Exposure Draft – Relief from Recognition of Acquired Intangible Assets and Amortization of Goodwill

The AcSB issued an exposure draft in October 2025 proposing amendments to Sections 1582, Business Combinations, and Section 3064, Goodwill and Intangible Assets. These proposals would allow private enterprises to amortize goodwill and provide optional relief from recognizing intangible assets acquired in a business combination.

The proposed amendments include:

• an accounting policy choice to amortize goodwill over a default period of five years (up to 10 years if justified); and
• optional relief from recognizing intangible assets acquired in business combinations. Entities electing the relief must amortize goodwill.

Comments are requested by January 31, 2026. Feedback can be provided by written response. 

Consultation Paper – Detailed Review of Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises

The AcSB issued a consultation paper in September 2025. The AcSB’s objective of the Detailed Review of ASPE project is to simplify the application of the standards while maintaining the decision-usefulness of the financial statements for entities of all sizes and complexities. Through this Consultation Paper, the AcSB aims to identify the most complex ASPE requirements, where the cost/benefit threshold is not met, and the issue is pervasive among private entities. The Consultation Paper outlines the issues heard to date and proposes practical solutions to simplify the standards, with a focus on benefiting smaller entities. The AcSB will prioritize each of the proposed solutions and use the assessment results to help shape future work plans.

Comments are requested by January 31, 2026. Feedback can be provided by written response or by participating in online surveys.

Additional non-authoritative guidance

To stay ahead of the curve, find additional non-authoritative guidance to help you navigate the application of the Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises.

Complimentary Resources

• Guidance: Attention Management and Auditors: Revised CAS 570, Going Concern Brings Changes to the Auditor’s Expectation for Management’s Going Concern Assessment Timeline (AASB, AcSB & PSAB, 2025)
• Potential Impacts of Trade Relations with the United States on the Financial Statements of Private Enterprises (CPA Ontario, 2025)
• Project Summary – Evaluating the Preface (AcSB, 2025)
• Effects of Climate-related Risks and Opportunities on ASPE Financial Statements: Awareness Document (AcSB, 2024)
• Agricultural Inventories and Productive Biological Assets (AcSB, 2025)
• Disposal of long-lived assets and Discontinued Operations (AcSB, 2025)
• Leases (AcSB, 2025)
• Economic Dependence (AcSB, 2025) 
• Financial Instruments and Fair value measurement (AcSB, 2025)
• Consolidation and control (AcSB, 2025)
• Property, plant and equipment and intangible assets (AcSB, 2024)
• Impairment of long-lived assets (AcSB, 2024)
• Contingent Liabilities (AcSB, 2024)
• Impairment of Inventories (AcSB, 2024)
• Section 3041, Agriculture – How to apply the disclosure requirements for the net realizable value model (AcSB, 2023)
• In Brief: Section 3465, Income Taxes – International Tax Reform – Pillar Two Model Rules (AcSB, 2023)
• Framework for Reporting Performance Measures – voluntary guidance for enhanced decision making (AcSB, 2021)
• AcSB Podcast: Addressing Implementation Questions related to retractable or mandatorily redeemable shares issued in a tax planning arrangement (AcSB, 2019)

Resources available by subscription from CPA Canada

• Guide to ASPE: Financial Instruments (CPA Canada, 2024)
• Financial Reporting Alert: 2022 Amendment to Revenue, Section 3400 (CPA Canada, 2022)
• ASPE Briefing: Section 3041, Agriculture (CPA Canada, 2021)
• ASPE Briefing: Section 3462, Employee Future Benefits – A Focus on Defined Benefit Plans (CPA Canada, 2021)
• ASPE Briefing: Section 3400, Revenue (CPA Canada, 2021)
• ASPE Briefing: Accounting for Investments (CPA Canada, 2020)
• ASPE Alert: Accounting for related party financial instruments and significant risk disclosures (CPA Canada, 2019)
• An introduction to accounting for cryptocurrencies under ASPE (CPA Canada, 2019)
• ASPE Briefing: Retractable or mandatorily redeemable shares issued in a tax planning arrangement (CPA Canada, 2019)
• ASPE alert: Amendments to investments and income taxes (CPA Canada, 2019)
• ASPE briefing: Amalgamations of wholly owned enterprises (CPA Canada, 2017)

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