IntroductionAccording to the conceptual framework for the preparation and presentation of financial statements, “recognition is the process of including in the balance sheet or income statement an item that meets the definition of an item and meets the criteria for recognition”, while “measurement is the process of determining the monetary amounts at which financial statement elements are to be recognized and recorded in the balance sheet and income statement” (NTU, 2011). In other words, during the recognition process, any item must belong to the financial statements and must have probable future economic benefits flowing to or from the enterprise and can be reliable and measured in a manner relevant to cost or value. Therefore, in order to prepare a good financial statement, proper recognition and reliable measurement are necessary and important. Unfortunately, this concept comes with some surrounding issues, and this easy goal is to explore and discuss issues related to the recognition and measurement of one particular element: the employee. advantages in the financial statements of British Airways plc, which is the UK's largest international scheduled airline and one of the world's leading premium airlines (BRITISH AIRWAYS, 2011). The author intended to critically analyze three mainly employee benefits, namely short-term employee benefits, post-employment benefits and severance benefits, through the annual report of British Airways. However, measurement may be complicated. Sometimes the company needs to estimate the amount of benefits recorded on the financial statement, such as paid vacation and healthcare. But for one thing, the company still needs to find a better way to measure t...... article middle......mf.org/external/np/sta/ueps/2003/080103.pdfIatridis , George. 2010, International Financial Reporting Standards and the quality of financial statement information. vol. 19, number 3, page 193-204. International Review of Financial AnalysisIFRS Foundation, 2011, IAS 19 Employee Benefits. [Online] Accessed 11/27/2011, available at: http://www.ifrs.org/NR/rdonlyres/085C6BBB-A728-4F08-B00F-D7F5B5C9910C/0/IAS19.pdfMelville, Alan. 2009, International Financial Reporting: A Practical Guide. 2nd edition, London: Prentice HallNTU, 2011, Regulatory framework for the preparation and presentation of financial statements. [Online] Accessed 21/10/2011, available at: https://now.ntu.ac.uk/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=130510&tId=611855PWC, 2011, IFRS and US GAAP: similarities and differences – expense-benefit recognition to employees. vol. October, page 69-71. PWC LLP