'Financial instruments? No, my clients don't have those.' If this has been your reaction so far to the issue of new requirements for financial instruments in FRS 102, The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland, then think again.

First of all, as many of you will already know, financial instruments of one sort or another are held by just about every client. This is inevitable as the FRS 102 glossary definition of a financial asset is any asset that is: cash; an equity instrument of another entity; and a contractual right to receive cash, or another financial asset, from another entity.