What is the Materiality Concept?

Detailed Explanation

The materiality concept refers to a situation where the financial information of a company is considered material from the point of view of the preparation of the financial statements if it has the potential to alter the view or opinion of a reasonable person. In short, all that financial information that is likely to influence a knowledgeable person’s judgment should be captured in the preparation of the company’s financial statements. The materiality concept in accounting is also known as materiality constraint.

The concept of materiality in accounting is subjective relative to size and importance. Financial information might be of material importance to one company but stand immaterial to another company. This aspect of the materiality concept is more noticeable when comparing companies that vary in size, i.e., a large company vis-à-vis a small company. A similar cost may be considered a large and material expense for a small company, but the same may be small and immaterial for a large company because of its large size and revenue.

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The financial statement users mentioned here can be auditors, shareholders, investors, etc. As such, it can be said that the main objective of the materiality concept in accounting is to assess whether the financial information under consideration makes any significant impact on the opinion of the financial statement users. If the information is not material, the company does not need to worry about including it in financial statementsFinancial StatementsFinancial statements are written reports prepared by a company’s management to present the company’s financial affairs over a given period (quarter, six monthly or yearly). These statements, which include the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flows, and Shareholders Equity Statement, must be prepared in accordance with prescribed and standardized accounting standards to ensure uniformity in reporting at all levels.read more.

In general, the thumb rule for the materiality of financial informationFinancial InformationFinancial Information refers to the summarized data of monetary transactions that is helpful to investors in understanding company’s profitability, their assets, and growth prospects. Financial Data about individuals like past Months Bank Statement, Tax return receipts helps banks to understand customer’s credit quality, repayment capacity etc.read more is stated as,

  • On the Income statement,Income Statement,The income statement is one of the company’s financial reports that summarizes all of the company’s revenues and expenses over time in order to determine the company’s profit or loss and measure its business activity over time based on user requirements.read more, a variation of more than 5% of before-tax Profit or more than 0.5% of sales revenue may be seen as “large enough to matter.”On the Balance sheetOn The Balance SheetA balance sheet is one of the financial statements of a company that presents the shareholders’ equity, liabilities, and assets of the company at a specific point in time. It is based on the accounting equation that states that the sum of the total liabilities and the owner’s capital equals the total assets of the company.read more, a variation in the entry of more than 0.5% of total assets or more than 1% of total equity may be viewed as “large enough to matter.”

Materiality Concept as per GAAP and FASB

Materiality Concept as Per GAAP

For GAAPGAAPGAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) are standardized guidelines for accounting and financial reporting.read more (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) the primary rule for deciding on materiality is-

Materiality Concept as Per FASB

On the other hand, for FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board), the primary rule for deciding on materiality is-

Examples of Materiality Concept in Accounting

Let’s understand the Materiality concept in accounting with the help of a simple example to understand it better.

Let us take the example of a large company with a building located in the hurricane zone during the recent natural calamity. The hurricane has destroyed the company building, and after a gruesome legal battle with the insurance provider, the company has reported an extraordinary loss of $30,000. Determine the materiality of the event based on the below-given conditions:

  • Company A which is large and generates a net income of $40,000,000Company B which is very small and generates a net income of $90,000

a) Now, let us calculate the materiality for company A by dividing the loss of $30,000 by the net income of the company i.e. $30,000 / $4,000,000 * 100% = 0.08%

The materiality of Company A =0.08%

According to the materiality concept, this loss of $30,000 is immaterial for company A because the average financial statement user would not be concerned with something that is only 0.08% of the total net income.

b) Again, let us calculate the materiality for company B by dividing the loss by the net income of the company, i.e., $30,000 / $90,000 * 100% = 33.34%

Now, we will calculate the Materiality of Company B.

The materiality of Company B = 33.33%

According to the materiality concept, this loss of $30,000 is material for company B because the average financial statement user would be concerned and might opt out of the business. The loss constitutes around 33.33% of the total net income.

The above example emphasizes the difference in the size of the two companies and the variation in the behavior of their financial statement users.

Relevance and Uses of the Materiality Concept in Accounting

It is to be understood that materiality is a subjective concept that guides a company to identify and disclose only those transactions that are sufficiently large compared to the company’s operations such that it would concern the users of the company’s financial statements. The materiality concept says that a company is obligated to account for such substantial amounts in a way that complies with the financial accounting principlesAccounting PrinciplesAccounting principles are the set guidelines and rules issued by accounting standards like GAAP and IFRS for the companies to follow while recording and presenting the financial information in the books of accounts.read more. However, materiality is measured in terms of dollar amount, and the consequence is a misstatement if the accounting principles are not followed.

Consequently, each company should develop the ability to determine which items are material relative to its operations and then engage enough employee cost to ensure adherence to accounting principles for those items. The company’s characteristics, the prevailing economic and political environment, and the role of the financial statements reviewer may impact the materiality judgments. However, if the cost of adherence to the accounting principles seems to exceed the foreseen benefit of doing it, then a company might do away with the principles.

Abuse of Materiality concept in Accounting

Any abuse of the materiality concept in accounting can result in serious legal consequences. In most cases, the auditors and the courts take the help of “rules of thumb” to review cases associated with materiality abuse. However, both GAAP and FASB have been reluctant to state any precise range for error size that may qualify as materiality abuse. Nevertheless, the reviewers who judge such materiality abuse cases must also consider some other factors besides error magnitude. Two such factors can be the motivation and intent behind the error and the likely effect on user perception and judgment.

This has been a guide to Materiality Concept and its definition. Here we discuss the materiality concept per GAAP and FASB with a simple Example. You can learn more about it from the following articles –

  • Audit MaterialityPrudence Concept in AccountingWhat is Conservatism Principle of Accounting?Matching Principle of Accounting