Chapter 10
Translation of foreign
Currency financial statements

Chapter Outline

I. In today's global economy, many companies have invested in operations in foreign countries. A. In preparing consolidated financial statements on a worldwide basis, the foreign currency accounts prepared by foreign operations must be restated into the parent company's reporting currency. B. There are two major issues related to the translation of foreign currency financial statements. 1. Which method should be used? 2. How should the resulting translation adjustment be reported on the consolidated financial statements? C. Translation methods differ on the basis of which accounts are translated at the current exchange rate and which are translated at a historical exchange rate. Translating accounts at the current exchange rate creates a translation adjustment. D. Historically, accountants have experimented with a number of different translation methods. The dominant methods currently in use are the temporal method and the current rate method. E. Translation adjustments can be either (1) reported as a gain or loss in income or (2) deferred in the stockholders' equity section of the balance sheet.

II. The primary objective of the temporal method is to maintain the underlying valuation method used by the foreign entity to account for its assets and liabilities. A. Assets and liabilities carried at current or future value are translated at the current exchange rate. Assets and liabilities carried at cost and stockholders' equity items are translated at a historical exchange rate. B. By translating some assets at the current exchange rate and others at historical rates the temporal method distorts financial ratios calculated in the foreign currency. C. Most income statement items are translated at average-for-the-period rates.