Commentary Part 15: Accounts and Reports Individual accounts
648.Sections 394 to 397, which replace sections 226, 226A and 226B of the 1985 Act, concern the duty of the directors to prepare individual accounts. The individual accounts may either be prepared under the Act (Companies Act individual accounts) or (unless the company is a charity) in accordance with international accounting standards adopted under the IAS Regulation (IAS individual accounts). The terms “IAS Regulation” and “international accounting standards” are defined in section 474. Once a company has switched to IAS individual accounts all subsequent individual accounts must be prepared in accordance with IAS unless there is a relevant change of circumstance (see section 395(3) to (5)). The provisions concerning the form and content of Companies Act accounts to be found in the Schedules to Part 7 of the 1985 Act will in future be contained in regulations to be made by the Secretary of State (section 396(3)). The Parliamentary procedure for such regulations is set out in section 473.