Does IFRS 18 require restating comparatives?
Yes, and the consequence is that the work starts a year before the standard applies. Whether your comparative year has already begun depends on your year end.
Yes. IFRS 18 is applied retrospectively, so the comparative period is restated on the new basis, with a reconciliation for each line of the statement of profit or loss between the restated comparative and the comparative as previously presented (IFRS Foundation).
The consequence is the part people miss. Restating a comparative means capturing that year on the new basis, and the comparative year begins a year before the standard applies. So the question is not really "do we restate", it is "has the year we will be restating already started".
When it starts, for you
IFRS 18 applies to annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027. Work forward from your own year end:
| Year end | First IFRS 18 period | Comparative to restate | Began |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 December | 1 Jan 2027 to 31 Dec 2027 | calendar 2026 | 1 January 2026 |
| 31 March | 1 Apr 2027 to 31 Mar 2028 | 1 Apr 2026 to 31 Mar 2027 | 1 April 2026 |
| 30 June | 1 Jul 2027 to 30 Jun 2028 | 1 Jul 2026 to 30 Jun 2027 | 1 July 2026 |
| 30 September | 1 Oct 2027 to 30 Sep 2028 | 1 Oct 2026 to 30 Sep 2027 | 1 October 2026 |
A December reporter is already inside the year they will restate. A September reporter is not, and that difference is worth more than any amount of planning advice.
Our free transition tool works this out for any year end, including the interim implications.
Being inside the comparative year is recoverable
If your comparative year has started, nothing is lost. There are two ways to produce a restated comparative and only one of them is pleasant.
Capture as you go. Categorise transactions on the new basis from now, so the comparative assembles itself from records built for the purpose.
Reconstruct afterwards. Go back through a completed year and re-derive the categories from records that were not designed to carry them. This is where the composite lines bite: a single net foreign exchange figure, a combined pension charge, a provision movement with the discount unwind inside it. Splitting those after the fact means going back to source.
The gap between the two is the whole argument for doing the mapping now rather than in the first IFRS 18 year.
The reconciliation is a disclosure, not a working paper
The requirement is a reconciliation for each line item of the statement of profit or loss between the restated comparative and what was previously presented. That is published, and it is the clearest signal a reader gets about how much the entity's presentation has moved.
Two things follow. Anything embarrassing in the mapping becomes visible, so the mapping is worth getting right rather than defensible. And the reconciliation has to tie, line by line, which means the restated comparative and the original have to be reconcilable at line level rather than in total.
Interims
The first interim report inside the first IFRS 18 annual period presents on the new basis, with its own comparative. For a December reporter that is the half year to 30 June 2027, with the half year to 30 June 2026 restated. A quarterly reporter's first affected interim is earlier again.
This catches teams that plan to the annual year end and find the first real deadline is six months sooner.
What to do in the next month
- Work out your dates. One input, and it decides everything else.
- Settle the main business activity question and record it, because every interest and dividend classification depends on it.
- Map the chart of accounts, and list every account needing a split.
- Start capturing the new categories, even imperfectly. A partial year captured as it happens is worth more than a complete year reconstructed.
- Book the conversation with your auditor on the judgements, not on the timetable.
One limit worth stating
This does not cover the transition reliefs and the specific requirements that apply to the first set of IFRS 18 statements beyond the comparative reconciliation, and it says nothing about entities applying IFRS 18 early, which is permitted and changes every date above. If you are considering early adoption, the dates here are the wrong ones for you.
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