9. Financial statements are a structured representation of the financial position and financial performance of an entity. The objective of financial statements is to provide information about the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of an entity that is useful to a wide range of users in making economic decisions. Financial statements also show the results of the management’s stewardship of the resources entrusted to it. To meet this objective, financial statements provide information about an entity’s:

assets;
liabilities;
equity;
income and expenses, including gains and losses;
contributions by and distributions to owners in their capacity as owners; and
cash flows.

This information, along with other information in the notes, assists users of financial statements in predicting the entity’s future cash flows and, in particular, their timing and certainty.

Complete set of financial statements

10 A complete set of financial statements comprises:

a statement of financial position as at the end of the period;
a statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income for the period;
a statement of changes in equity for the period;
a statement of cash flows for the period;
notes, comprising significant accounting policies and other explanatory information;
(ea) comparative information in respect of the preceding period as specified in paragraphs 38 and 38A; and
a statement of financial position as at the beginning of the preceding period when an entity applies an accounting policy retrospectively or makes a retrospective restatement of items in its financial statements, or when it reclassifies items in its financial statements in accordance with paragraphs 40A–40D.

An entity may use titles for the statements other than those used in this Standard. For example, an entity may use the title ‘statement of comprehensive income’ instead of ‘statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income’.

10A An entity may present a single statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income, with profit or loss and other comprehensive income presented in two sections. The sections shall be presented together, with the profit or loss section presented first followed directly by the other comprehensive income section. An entity may present the profit or loss section in a separate statement of profit or loss. If so, the separate statement of profit or loss shall immediately precede the statement presenting comprehensive income, which shall begin with profit or loss.

11 An entity shall present with equal prominence all of the financial statements in a complete set of financial statements.

12 [Deleted]

13 Many entities present, outside the financial statements, a financial review by management that describes and explains the main features of the entity’s financial performance and financial position, and the principal uncertainties it faces. Such a report may include a review of:

the main factors and influences determining financial performance, including changes in the environment in which the entity operates, the entity’s response to those changes and their effect, and the entity’s policy for investment to maintain and enhance financial performance, including its dividend policy;
the entity’s sources of funding and its targeted ratio of liabilities to equity; and
the entity’s resources not recognised in the statement of financial position in accordance with IFRSs.

14 Many entities also present, outside the financial statements, reports and statements such as environmental reports and value added statements, particularly in industries in which environmental factors are significant and when employees are regarded as an important user group. Reports and statements presented outside financial statements are outside the scope of IFRSs.

General features

Fair presentation and compliance with IFRSs

15 Financial statements shall present fairly the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of an entity. Fair presentation requires the faithful representation of the effects of transactions, other events and conditions in accordance with the definitions and recognition criteria for assets, liabilities, income and expenses set out in the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (Conceptual Framework). The application of IFRSs, with additional disclosure when necessary, is presumed to result in financial statements that achieve a fair presentation.

16 An entity whose financial statements comply with IFRSs shall make an explicit and unreserved statement of such compliance in the notes. An entity shall not describe financial statements as complying with IFRSs unless they comply with all the requirements of IFRSs.

17 In virtually all circumstances, an entity achieves a fair presentation by compliance with applicable IFRSs. A fair presentation also requires an entity:

to select and apply accounting policies in accordance with IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors. IAS 8 sets out a hierarchy of authoritative guidance that management considers in the absence of an IFRS that specifically applies to an item.
to present information, including accounting policies, in a manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable information.
to provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in IFRSs is insufficient to enable users to understand the impact of particular transactions, other events and conditions on the entity’s financial position and financial performance.

18 An entity cannot rectify inappropriate accounting policies either by disclosure of the accounting policies used or by notes or explanatory material.

19 In the extremely rare circumstances in which management concludes that compliance with a requirement in an IFRS would be so misleading that it would conflict with the objective of financial statements set out in the Framework, the entity shall depart from that requirement in the manner set out in paragraph 20 if the relevant regulatory framework requires, or otherwise does not prohibit, such a departure.

20 When an entity departs from a requirement of an IFRS in accordance with paragraph 19, it shall disclose:

that management has concluded that the financial statements present fairly the entity’s financial position, financial performance and cash flows;
that it has complied with applicable IFRSs, except that it has departed from a particular requirement to achieve a fair presentation;
the title of the IFRS from which the entity has departed, the nature of the departure, including the treatment that the IFRS would require, the reason why that treatment would be so misleading in the circumstances that it would conflict with the objective of financial statements set out in the Framework, and the treatment adopted; and
for each period presented, the financial effect of the departure on each item in the financial statements that would have been reported in complying with the requirement.

21 When an entity has departed from a requirement of an IFRS in a prior period, and that departure affects the amounts recognised in the financial statements for the current period, it shall make the disclosures set out in paragraph 20(c) and (d).

22 Paragraph 21 applies, for example, when an entity departed in a prior period from a requirement in an IFRS for the measurement of assets or liabilities and that departure affects the measurement of changes in assets and liabilities recognised in the current period’s financial statements.

23 In the extremely rare circumstances in which management concludes that compliance with a requirement in an IFRS would be so misleading that it would conflict with the objective of financial statements set out in the Framework, but the relevant regulatory framework prohibits departure from the requirement, the entity shall, to the maximum extent possible, reduce the perceived misleading aspects of compliance by disclosing:

the title of the IFRS in question, the nature of the requirement, and the reason why management has concluded that complying with that requirement is so misleading in the circumstances that it conflicts with the objective of financial statements set out in the Framework; and
for each period presented, the adjustments to each item in the financial statements that management has concluded would be necessary to achieve a fair presentation.

24 For the purpose of paragraphs 19–23, an item of information would conflict with the objective of financial statements when it does not represent faithfully the transactions, other events and conditions that it either purports to represent or could reasonably be expected to represent and, consequently, it would be likely to influence economic decisions made by users of financial statements. When assessing whether complying with a specific requirement in an IFRS would be so misleading that it would conflict with the objective of financial statements set out in the Framework, management considers:

why the objective of financial statements is not achieved in the particular circumstances; and
how the entity’s circumstances differ from those of other entities that comply with the requirement. If other entities in similar circumstances comply with the requirement, there is a rebuttable presumption that the entity’s compliance with the requirement would not be so misleading that it would conflict with the objective of financial statements set out in the Framework.

Going concern

25 When preparing financial statements, management shall make an assessment of an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. An entity shall prepare financial statements on a going concern basis unless management either intends to liquidate the entity or to cease trading, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

When management is aware, in making its assessment, of material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt upon the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern, the entity shall disclose those uncertainties. When an entity does not prepare financial statements on a going concern basis, it shall disclose that fact, together with the basis on which it prepared the financial statements and the reason why the entity is not regarded as a going concern.

26 In assessing whether the going concern assumption is appropriate, management takes into account all available information about the future, which is at least, but is not limited to, twelve months from the end of the reporting period. The degree of consideration depends on the facts in each case. When an entity has a history of profitable operations and ready access to financial resources, the entity may reach a conclusion that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate without detailed analysis.

In other cases, management may need to consider a wide range of factors relating to current and expected profitability, debt repayment schedules and potential sources of replacement financing before it can satisfy itself that the going concern basis is appropriate.

Accrual basis of accounting

27 An entity shall prepare its financial statements, except for cash flow information, using the accrual basis of accounting.

28 When the accrual basis of accounting is used, an entity recognises items as assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses (the elements of financial statements) when they satisfy the definitions and recognition criteria for those elements in the Conceptual Framework.

Materiality and aggregation

29 An entity shall present separately each material class of similar items. An entity shall present separately items of a dissimilar nature or function unless they are immaterial.

30 Financial statements result from processing large numbers of transactions or other events that are aggregated into classes according to their nature or function. The final stage in the process of aggregation and classification is the presentation of condensed and classified data, which form line items in the financial statements. If a line item is not individually material, it is aggregated with other items either in those statements or in the notes. An item that is not sufficiently material to warrant separate presentation in those statements may warrant separate presentation in the notes.

30A When applying this and other IFRSs an entity shall decide, taking into consideration all relevant facts and circumstances, how it aggregates information in the financial statements, which include the notes. An entity shall not reduce the understandability of its financial statements by obscuring material information with immaterial information or by aggregating material items that have different natures or functions.

31 Some IFRSs specify information that is required to be included in the financial statements, which include the notes. An entity need not provide a specific disclosure required by an IFRS if the information resulting from that disclosure is not material. This is the case even if the IFRS contains a list of specific requirements or describes them as minimum requirements. An entity shall also consider whether to provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in IFRS is insufficient to enable users of financial statements to understand the impact of particular transactions, other events and conditions on the entity’s financial position and financial performance.

Offsetting

32 An entity shall not offset assets and liabilities or income and expenses, unless required or permitted by an IFRS.

33 An entity reports separately both assets and liabilities, and income and expenses. Offsetting in the statement(s) of profit or loss and other comprehensive income or financial position, except when offsetting reflects the substance of the transaction or other event, detracts from the ability of users both to understand the transactions, other events and conditions that have occurred and to assess the entity’s future cash flows. Measuring assets net of valuation allowances—for example, obsolescence allowances on inventories and doubtful debts allowances on receivables—is not offsetting.

34 IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers requires an entity to measure revenue from contracts with customers at the amount of consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods or services. For example, the amount of revenue recognised reflects any trade discounts and volume rebates the entity allows.

An entity undertakes, in the course of its ordinary activities, other transactions that do not generate revenue but are incidental to the main revenue-generating activities. An entity presents the results of such transactions, when this presentation reflects the substance of the transaction or other event, by netting any income with related expenses arising on the same transaction. For example:

an entity presents gains and losses on the disposal of non-current assets, including investments and operating assets, by deducting from the amount of consideration on disposal the carrying amount of the asset and related selling expenses; and
an entity may net expenditure related to a provision that is recognised in accordance with IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets and reimbursed under a contractual arrangement with a third party (for example, a supplier’s warranty agreement) against the related reimbursement.

35 In addition, an entity presents on a net basis gains and losses arising from a group of similar transactions, for example, foreign exchange gains and losses or gains and losses arising on financial instruments held for trading. However, an entity presents such gains and losses separately if they are material.

Frequency of reporting

36 An entity shall present a complete set of financial statements (including comparative information) at least annually. When an entity changes the end of its reporting period and presents financial statements for a period longer or shorter than one year, an entity shall disclose, in addition to the period covered by the financial statements:

the reason for using a longer or shorter period, and
the fact that amounts presented in the financial statements are not entirely comparable.

37 Normally, an entity consistently prepares financial statements for a one-year period. However, for practical reasons, some entities prefer to report, for example, for a 52-week period. This Standard does not preclude this practice.

Comparative information

Minimum comparative information

38 Except when IFRSs permit or require otherwise, an entity shall present comparative information in respect of the preceding period for all amounts reported in the current period’s financial statements. An entity shall include comparative information for narrative and descriptive information if it is relevant to understanding the current period’s financial statements.

38A An entity shall present, as a minimum, two statements of financial position, two statements of profit or loss and other comprehensive income, two separate statements of profit or loss (if presented), two statements of cash flows and two statements of changes in equity, and related notes.

38B In some cases, narrative information provided in the financial statements for the preceding period(s) continues to be relevant in the current period. For example, an entity discloses in the current period details of a legal dispute, the outcome of which was uncertain at the end of the preceding period and is yet to be resolved. Users may benefit from the disclosure of information that the uncertainty existed at the end of the preceding period and from the disclosure of information about the steps that have been taken during the period to resolve the uncertainty.

Additional comparative information

38C An entity may present comparative information in addition to the minimum comparative financial statements required by IFRSs, as long as that information is prepared in accordance with IFRSs. This comparative information may consist of one or more statements referred to in paragraph 10, but need not comprise a complete set of financial statements. When this is the case, the entity shall present related note information for those additional statements.

38D For example, an entity may present a third statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income (thereby presenting the current period, the preceding period and one additional comparative period). However, the entity is not required to present a third statement of financial position, a third statement of cash flows or a third statement of changes in equity (ie an additional financial statement comparative). The entity is required to present, in the notes to the financial statements, the comparative information related to that additional statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income.

39–40 [Deleted]

Change in accounting policy, retrospective restatement or reclassification

40A An entity shall present a third statement of financial position as at the beginning of the preceding period in addition to the minimum comparative financial statements required in paragraph 38A if:

it applies an accounting policy retrospectively, makes a retrospective restatement of items in its financial statements or reclassifies items in its financial statements; and
the retrospective application, retrospective restatement or the reclassification has a material effect on the information in the statement of financial position at the beginning of the preceding period.

40B In the circumstances described in paragraph 40A, an entity shall present three statements of financial position as at:

the end of the current period;
the end of the preceding period; and
the beginning of the preceding period.

40C When an entity is required to present an additional statement of financial position in accordance with paragraph 40A, it must disclose the information required by paragraphs 41–44 and IAS 8. However, it need not present the related notes to the opening statement of financial position as at the beginning of the preceding period.

40D The date of that opening statement of financial position shall be as at the beginning of the preceding period regardless of whether an entity’s financial statements present comparative information for earlier periods (as permitted in paragraph 38C).

41 If an entity changes the presentation or classification of items in its financial statements, it shall reclassify comparative amounts unless reclassification is impracticable. When an entity reclassifies comparative amounts, it shall disclose (including as at the beginning of the preceding period):

the nature of the reclassification;
the amount of each item or class of items that is reclassified; and
the reason for the reclassification.

42 When it is impracticable to reclassify comparative amounts, an entity shall disclose:

the reason for not reclassifying the amounts, and
the nature of the adjustments that would have been made if the amounts had been reclassified.

43 Enhancing the inter-period comparability of information assists users in making economic decisions, especially by allowing the assessment of trends in financial information for predictive purposes. In some circumstances, it is impracticable to reclassify comparative information for a particular prior period to achieve comparability with the current period. For example, an entity may not have collected data in the prior period(s) in a way that allows reclassification, and it may be impracticable to recreate the information.

44 IAS 8 sets out the adjustments to comparative information required when an entity changes an accounting policy or corrects an error.

Consistency of presentation

45 An entity shall retain the presentation and classification of items in the financial statements from one period to the next unless:

it is apparent, following a significant change in the nature of the entity’s operations or a review of its financial statements, that another presentation or classification would be more appropriate having regard to the criteria for the selection and application of accounting policies in IAS 8; or
an IFRS requires a change in presentation.

46 For example, a significant acquisition or disposal, or a review of the presentation of the financial statements, might suggest that the financial statements need to be presented differently. An entity changes the presentation of its financial statements only if the changed presentation provides information that is reliable and more relevant to users of the financial statements and the revised structure is likely to continue, so that comparability is not impaired. When making such changes in presentation, an entity reclassifies its comparative information in accordance with paragraphs 41 and 42.

IAS 1 Financial statements

IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements IAS 1 Financial statements

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Source EU rules on financial information disclosed by companies

Excerpts from IFRS Standards come from the Official Journal of the European Union (© European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu). Individual jurisdictions around the world may require or permit the use of (locally authorised and/or amended) IFRS Standards for all or some publicly listed companies. The information provided on this website is for general information and educational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional advice. The specific status of IFRS Standards should be checked in each individual jurisdiction. Use at your own risk. Annualreporting is an independent website and it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or in any other way associated with the IFRS Foundation. For official information concerning IFRS Standards, visit IFRS.org or the local representative in your jurisdiction.