NZ IFRS 18 on the 18th
Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements
It’s time to start thinking about NZ IFRS 18
Welcome to the first edition of our new NZ IFRS 18 on the 18th alert series. On or around the 18th of every month for the rest of 2025, we will share key points, information and guidance to help you understand the new requirements in NZ IFRS 18. NZ IFRS 18 replaces NZ IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements from 1 January 2027.
NZ IFRS 18 is expected to result in changes to the presentation and disclosure of information – in particular, information relating to financial performance – in the financial statements of all for-profit entities. Applying NZ IFRS 18 provides you with the opportunity to refresh the presentation and disclosure of information across your financial statements, helping you to enhance your communication with stakeholders.
We encourage you to start thinking about the impact of NZ IFRS 18 on your financial reporting now for the following reasons:
Although NZ IFRS 18 does not introduce recognition and measurement requirements, the new requirements will likely have an impact on your systems, record-keeping and the financial statement preparation process. The extent of the impact will range from minor to pervasive, depending on the nature, size and complexity of your operations. Knowing where you fit within this range will help you determine how much time you need to prepare for implementation.
NZ IFRS 18 requires entities to restate comparative information when it is first applied. For example, an entity with a 31 December reporting date that applies this standard from the mandatory date of 1 January 2027 will need to restate its financial results for the year ending 31 December 2026. We suggest you start thinking about the relevant data you will need to capture from 1 January 2026. Early preparation will assist with making the transition smoother and ensure that there are no unexpected complications when reporting under NZ IFRS 18.
We expect the impact on Tier 2 for-profit entities to be reduced because of the disclosure concessions we have proposed in our open consultation. We encourage you to provide feedback on this consultation by 29 May, to ensure that we have the information that will help us to appropriately balance the benefits to users with the costs of preparing financial statements for Tier 2 for-profit entities.
These monthly alerts will help you to identify those aspects of the new requirements that may have a significant impact on your financial reporting. The diagram below sets out the focus for each month’s alert throughout 2025.
