Welcome, brave accounting aficionados, to an enthralling tale of accounting drama! Today, we traverse the rocky terrains of costs and delays with our noble heroes: Disproportionate Expense and Undue Delay. Ready your calculators and sharpen your pencils; our journey begins!

Setting the Stage: The Reluctant Subsidiary

Once upon a time in the land of UK accounting, accountants faced a daunting challenge: how to prepare consolidated financial statements for an enormous group, without succumbing to the monster of disproportionate expense or the dragon of undue delay. The legend goes that if these factors were too overpowering, some subsidiaries were simply left to their own devices!

Chart: Traditional UK Accounting Practice Scenario

    gantt
	title Subsidiary Tales
	section Disproportionate Expense
	Accountant A:done, a1, 2023-01-01, 30d
	Accountant B:done, a2, after a1, 45d
	section Undue Delay
	Calculator Calibration:done, b1, 2023-01-01, 10d
	Financial Reports: crit, done, b2, after b1, 60d

Legend has it…

Disproportionate Expense was a petty savior, sparing accounting knights from excessive costs. Meanwhile, Undue Delay swooped in, offering excuses like there’s no tomorrow. This dynamic duo held sway over the decision to exclude subsidiaries from the consolidated financial statements.

The Financial Reporting Standard Battleground

Enter the valiant Financial Reporting Standard (Section 9), our knight in shining armor! No longer could disproportionate expense and undue delay be an acceptable shield for exclusion if the subsidiary was too critical for the kingdom—uh, group.

Whoa, watch out! The standard decrees that under no circumstances should individually or collectively material subsidiaries be neglected! Talk about a tough break for our previously mentioned heroes.

Formula of Heroic Standards

When: \[ MaterialSubsidiary = True \] Then: \[ Exclusion = False \]

Diagram: The Battlefield of Standards

    flowchart TD
	    A[Disproportionate Expense] -->|Nope|B[Are Subsidiaries Material?]
	    B -->|Yes| C[Include in Consolidation]
	    B -->|No| D[Optional Exclusion]
	    C -->|Financial Reporting Standard| F

Moral of the Story

Dear reader, our epic saga teaches that no matter how daunting the costs or delays, essential subsidiaries must be consolidated! It’s a tale as timeless as the adventures of Indiana Jones but with more spreadsheets and fewer boulders.

So here’s a cheer for all our brave-hearted accountants who navigate these turbulent waters, consolidating against all odds! Remember, courage is not the absence of entries in the general ledger—it’s the fortitude to align with the Financial Reporting Standard.

🎓 Quizzes

What’s an article without a few quizzes? Let’s test your accounting mettle!

1. Which legend in UK accounting explains the omission of a subsidiary due to costs?

   • Disproportionate Expense
   • Value-Added Tax
   • Fiscal Fables
   • Accounting Myths

2. What does the Financial Reporting Standard (Section 9) focus on?

   • Gastronomic expenses of accountants
   • The art of accounting poetry
   • Material significance of subsidiaries
   • Accounting time travel

3. Can undue delay justify the exclusion of material subsidiaries?

   • Yes
   • No

4. In the traditional UK practice, who spared accountants from excessive costs?

   • Finance Fairy
   • Disproportionate Expense
   • Overhead Ogres
   • Regulatory Goblins

5. In modern practice, who are the main villains requiring vigilance?

   • Costosaurus and Delayosaur
   • Disproportionate Expense and Undue Delay
   • Zoom and Boom
   • Spreadsheet and Ledgersaurus

6. The inclusion of material subsidiaries ensures which of the following?

   • True and Fair View
   • Excluding Subsidiaries
   • Random Expenditure
   • Financial Hit or Miss

7. The Financial Reporting Standard is often represented by which acronym?

   • FRS
   • IRS
   • CMS
   • KPI

8. Who is the “knight in shining armor” in the battle for consolidated accounting?

   • The Financial Reporting Standard
   • The Treasury Templar
   • The Revenue Roundtable
   • The Accrual Ace

Conclusion

The legend of disproportionate expense and undue delay serves as a reminder that even in waves of costs and waves of time, consolidated accounting triumphs remain paramount. Don your accounting armor, dear reader, and may your spreadsheets ever be balanced!