12/08/2026
Part 9 of 12: IAS 19 Obligations in a Subsidiary Context
The subsidiary hires staff. It pays SSNIT contributions. It may have a provident fund, a gratuity scheme, long-service awards, or end-of-service benefits.
Under IAS 19, every one of those obligations has to be measured. Recognised on the balance sheet. Disclosed in the financial statements.
But in many MNC subsidiaries in Ghana, employee benefits are managed as a payroll function, not an accounting one. The HR team knows what employees are entitled to. The finance team is not always sure what to do with it.
The result: benefit obligations that are unrecognised, understated, or disclosed in a way that does not satisfy IFRS requirements. This creates a risk at audit and a liability gap that can be significant, particularly in subsidiaries with long-tenured workforces.
IAS 19 compliance is not optional for subsidiaries preparing standalone IFRS financial statements. And the valuation requires actuarial expertise.
If your subsidiary has defined benefit obligations gratuities, long-service awards, end-of-service benefits and they have not been actuarially valued recently, that is a gap worth closing before your next audit cycle.
