Inform - CA

Please visit Viewpoint, PwC's exciting new digital platform that replaces Inform.

Inform is PwC’s online resource for accounting and auditing technical research.

Who can use Inform?

Inform is used by PwC’s assurance practice worldwide as well as our clients and other entities looking for an online, searchable and easy-to-navigate research tool. Subscribers can access the full content, including PwC’s Manuals of accounting and other application guidance. Non-subscribers have limited access.

What can I find on Inform?

Inform subscribers will find comprehensive content covering: authoritative accounting and auditing pronouncements, applicable law/regulation, PwC’s interpretative guidance, publications, tools and practice aids, etc. Additional content may vary depending on the ‘content site’ selected. For example, the Global site includes PwC’s IFRS manuals of accounting and the UK site includes the same Manuals but with additional guidance (for example, UK company law) that is relevant to UK entities.

For more information about the content see our video tutorials and full user guide, which explains Inform in more detail.

What makes Inform different?

Inform has a number of features that differentiate it from other products offering similar content. We have provided video tutorials to explain these features and help users make the most of them. Full instructions can be found in the Inform user guide.

Mobile version – how to use on your Smartphone.

My Inform – how to personalise your home page, create favourites, save search results, see your recently viewed documents and update your profile.

Versioned standards – See how the IFRS standards have changed over time, when and why.

More information on Inform’s features can be found in the user guide.

Why subscribe to Inform?

An annual subscription enables a company’s registered users to access the full content on Inform. For example, PwC’s guidance contains hyperlinks to related authoritative content such as relevant paragraphs within the IFRSs, making it easy to see how the standards should be applied in practice. Subscriptions are purchased on a concurrent user basis, meaning one subscription can be shared by many – on a one-at-a-time basis. There is no upper limit to the number of subscriptions that can be purchased.

How much does it cost?

The cost of an annual subscription is determined by the content purchased. For example, one licence to ‘Global’ (that is, IFRSs) is GBP 750 (USD 1170 and Euros 970). Territory content is available for UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong/China and Japan..

See Inform's pricing information for further details.

How can I stay up to date with new developments?

The technical alerts, under the News section of Inform, are updated with links to new content as it is added to the site. You can subscribe to Inform updates to receive a fortnightly round-up by email.

Who can I contact for more help?

If you need help accessing content on the site, want to take out a free trial or subscribe, please contact:

uk_inform@pwc.com or Inform.support.us@us.pwc.com (for US and Americas)

Feedback

We welcome feedback. Your comments help us deliver design and content changes that will improve the site for its users. You can email us at uk_inform@pwc.com.

We’re pleased to announce that we are launching a new platform, Viewpoint, which will replace Inform. Please see this pdf for further information on the features and benefits of Viewpoint.

For existing subscribers to Inform, please note that 'company administrators' have been sent information regarding licensing changes and transition arrangements. For Viewpoint pricing, please click here.

If you have any questions, please contact your usual PwC contact or uk_viewpoint@pwc.com.

In order to maximise the space on the screen for the text of content and make it easier to read, we have now included the functionality buttons in a floating 'Tools' icon   . The 'Tools' icon will automatically display when you open any content and will float on the right hand side of the screen so that you can use it at any time. Clicking on the 'Tools' icon will display the normal functionality like 'Download', 'Print', 'Copy link', 'Add to my documents' and 'Add to my favourites' plus links to your document and favourite views as well as 'My Inform':

From the functionality list, click on 'Print' or 'Add to my documents' and you can choose to either 'Add selected section' (e.g. the few paragraphs highlighted here - scroll to select a different section) or 'Add full document'.

On your mobile, the 'Tools' icon is displayed as a red arrow, see below:

To find out more about the new functionality watch the Navigation video and read the updated full user guide and quick reference guides.

We have produced several quick reference guides to help you get started on Inform:

Trying to find a document that you accessed recently? Use the “My recently visited” link.

 The “My recently visited” link automatically includes the last 5 documents that you have accessed.  The “All recently visited” link will have the last 30 documents accessed globally.

Found something useful that you want to save for later? Add to "My document builder".

At the end of each section of content there is a button to add the content to your "My document builder" list.  For example, if you are reading a helpful section of the Manual and you want to be able to return to it later click on this button and it will be automatically listed in your "My document builder". 

To view your 'My documents' click on 'My stuff' from the options at the top of the screen and then select 'My documents'.

Looking for the most commonly used items? Use the links under 'Bookshelf'

On the ‘Bookshelf’ page, you will find links to the most commonly used items. For example, if IFRS 10 was noted to be one of the most popular searches recently, this link will be found at the top of the commonly used items list.

‘Bookshelf’ is also a great place to go for quick access to key areas and common links on Inform.

You can add any of these topics to your own bookshelf for quick access, by clicking on the [+] sign against each topic.

Want to create a PDF of content on Inform and store it on your PC or iPad?

You can easily create a PDF version of the content on Inform. For example, if you want to take a chapter of the Manual and store it onto your PC, iPad, or other tablet computer to read later, you can do this using the PDF functionality. 

Navigate to the document and at the top there is a PDF icon . The system will create a PDF of the document you have selected and then you can save to an appropriate folder on your PC.

 If you are using Inform on an iPad* you can open the PDF version in iBooks to easily retrieve. You can also create a 'virtual PDF' document that mixes different sections of content, for example a section of a standard plus a section of the Manual.  You can save this virtual PDF document in the same way as above.

*creating a PDF is only available when using the full website version (ie- ‘accessible version’) and is not available when using the ‘mobile’ version.

Accessing from a mobile device?

When accessing Inform from a smartphone you will automatically be taken to the mobile version of the site.

If you would like to access the mobile site manually, click ‘Mobile’ at the top right hand corner of the screen. When you are on the mobile version you are accessing a condensed version of Inform. If you would like access to the full site and functionality, click ‘Accessible version’.

Full site view:

Mobile site view:

Want better search results?

When performing a search from the ‘search’ tab, you can search all documents or only documents within a highlighted branch or section. Your last 5 searches auto populate under “My saved searches” but you can opt to save and keep these indefinitely using the “Save this search” button.

You can save your search by clicking the ‘Save this search’ button. You will need to add a description and then click on the save button.

There is also an advanced search option, which you can learn more about by viewing the video tutorial on searching content.

Want to create a document containing only the information you need? Use ‘My document builder’.

This function enables you to select sections of different documents to create a virtual document. Use the ‘Add document to my documents’ button below every section of content or from the search results screen to build your document.

Once you add a section to your document builder, it will display in ‘All my documents’ under ‘My document builder’. You can add multiple sections of content to your document builder and organize what you have added using folders. You can then save the virtual document as a PDF and/or print the document.

Need to understand a section of content better? Use the 'See also' links.

When you scroll through content on Inform at the end of each section there are 'See also' links to other relevant content. At the end of each section of content the top 3 'See also' links automatically display. See also links primarily appear in the International content currently.

Need to refer someone to content on Inform? Use the copy link button.

At the end of every section of content on Inform there are four buttons. The second button allows you to send a link to the specific section of content.  So for example if you were answering a technical query and you found the answer in a specific section of the PwC Guidance- click on this button at the end of the section and the link will be copied to your clipboard.  Go into your email and click on Edit, paste and the link will be pasted so that you can email to a colleague.

This video shows you how Inform's 'Bookshelf' page can help you access content more quickly. The 'Bookshelf' displays icons of key documents so that you're only one click away from key documents. There's a bookshelf for each category -- simply click on a book cover to access the publication or document.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 5.29MB).

Inform keeps you up to date with technical developments. This video takes you through content available on the News page, including technical updates, diary, exposure drafts and discussion papers - summary of latest developments, standards - summary of latest developments, effective date/EU endorsement, and standards by year end.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 4.08MB).

You can browse or search to find the documents you need on Inform. This video shows you how to browse the site using the contents tree. It also shows you how you can change your screen to display documents according to your preference.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 5.07MB).

This video shows you how to navigate Inform using functionality such as contents tree, 'find within document', create your own virtual document, 'see also' links, icons for printing or bookmarking documents, navigation arrow buttons, and the scroll bar.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 11.01MB).

There are lots of ways to search Inform to help you find content more quickly - this video shows you how.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 4.71MB).

This video shows you how to use advanced search features such as with/without certain words, exact phrase, and date published, to display, sort and refine your search results to help you find content more quickly on Inform.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 3.22MB).

This video shows you different ways to display, sort and refine your search results to help you find content more quickly on Inform.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 6.26MB).

Once you've found the documents you need on Inform, you can print a section of a document or a full document. You can print a hard copy or create a pdf version to save and read offline - this video shows you how.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 4.08MB).

As International Accounting Standards are continually being updated with amendments and consequential amendments, we maintain one version of all of the international accounting standards with all of the updates clearly marked. We refer to these as the version standards, which this video explains.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 5.17MB) or low resolution (wmv, 1.57MB).

This video shows you how to access all of Inform's content on a smartphone and explains how it differs from the desktop version.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 9.62MB).

This video shows you how to access your personalised content via 'My Inform'. Here you can access your favourites, documents you've created, recently viewed documents, saved searches and your profile details.

It is available to view on YouTube, or to download in high resolution (mp4, 7.88MB).

This quick reference guide (pdf, 163kb) explains the options available to company administrators in My Inform.

We’re pleased to announce that we are launching a new platform, Viewpoint, which will replace Inform. Please see this PDF for further information on the features and benefits of Viewpoint.

For existing subscribers to Inform, please note that 'company administrators' have been sent information regarding licensing changes and transition arrangements. For Viewpoint pricing, please click here.

If you have any questions, please contact your usual PwC contact or ca_viewpoint@pwc.com.