It seems appropriate to pull together a post that captures our learnings from the very up and down 2023 we have seen so far. This was an interesting year in which we attended more Web3 events, understood that community is very important in the sector and also that there is more mainstream interest in crypto. Here are our top learnings on crypto accounting from 2023
~ Company structuring is important
This is one of our big take-aways from 2023. More of our clients had to seriously think of structuring their corporates in a way that makes sense for the project as a whole. Some projects are clearly all DAO and parent company based whereas some others need very specific layered approach. Doing this withour after thought can be counter-productive and expensive to fix. When thinking through introducing more corporate structures, talk to your accounting team to understand how that will affect cash and transaction flow between related entities.
~ NFTs and their accounting treatment is very nuanced
There is no easily available guidance on how NFTs should be treated in accounting neither under the US GAAP or IFRS so far. There is greater interest in this area however and more people understand that they are of an intangible nature. While IAS 38 (Intangible Assets) could provide some basic insights, the unusual characteristics of NFTs pose challenges in categorizing them within any singular classification. We expect more clarifications regarding these in the years to come.
~ Crypto custody and treasury management is of paramount importance
With the ups and downs in the industry for the longest time, we are once again seeing the importance of having a solid treasury management strategy for companies that have a crypto-fiat asset split. It's important for companies to have a start point for this. It definitely will not be perfect but unless you have an entry and exit point defined, holding and managing digital assets become more and more difficult to get right in the long run.
~ More banks and traditional financial institutions will have a clearer stance on crypto
We've seen this happening first hand all through 2022 and 2023. Some banking institutions are moving to a favourable view of companies that have a clear product and vision. It's possible that most of your revenue is still coming from a traditional source and there are banks that are happy to deal with that part of your business as long as you are transparent about what's crypto's role in your business. They still prefer that the majority of your operations are "non-crypto" but with large institutional interest in DeFi, we may yet see some positive and welcome co-existence.
~ Be on top of your numbers
With everything, numbers are a top priority. We always believe that companies should have a one source of truth to the extent possible such as a robust accounting system that investors, the management and a wider stakeholder group can tap into. Financial literacy is so important for companies specific to the sector especially due to the high volatility of assets you hold. As we draw a close to 2023, we hope that DeFi and crypto will scale more heights in 2024 and beyond.
A word from the Evalua8 team!
We've been very busy during December so we've been less active with our blog than usual.We hope to bring you more blog posts and white papers in the new year.
As we wrap the year, we hope our articles have informed and educated. Happy holidays!
Notes
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/tech-effect/innovation/digital-assets-predictions.html
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