AASB 18

This Standard sets out requirements for the presentation and disclosure of information in general purpose financial statements (financial statements) to help ensure they provide relevant information that faithfully represents an entity’s assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses.

An entity shall apply this Standard in presenting and disclosing information in financial statements prepared in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards.

This Standard sets out general and specific requirements for the presentation of information in the statement(s) of financial performance, the statement of financial position and the statement of changes in equity. This Standard also sets out requirements for the disclosure of information in the notes. AASB 107 Statement of Cash Flows sets out requirements for the presentation and disclosure of cash flow information. However, the general requirements for financial statements in paragraphs 9–43 and 113–114 apply to the statement of cash flows.

Other Australian Accounting Standards set out the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure requirements for specific transactions and other events.

This Standard does not apply to the presentation and disclosure of information in condensed interim financial statements prepared applying AASB 134 Interim Financial Reporting. However, paragraphs 41–45 and 117–125 apply to such financial statements.

This Standard uses terminology that is suitable for profit-oriented entities, including public sector business entities. If entities with not-for-profit activities in the private sector or the public sector apply this Standard, they may need to amend the descriptions used for particular line items, categories, subtotals or totals in the financial statements and for the financial statements themselves.

Similarly, entities that do not have equity as defined in AASB 132 Financial Instruments: Presentation (for example, some mutual funds) and entities whose share capital is not equity (for example, some co-operative entities) may need to adapt the financial statement presentation of members’ or unitholders’ interests.

Many entities provide a financial review by management, which is separate from the financial statements (see paragraph 10), that describes and explains the main features of the entity’s financial performance and financial position, as well as the principal uncertainties it faces. Such a review is outside the scope of Australian Accounting Standards.

The objective of financial statements is to provide financial information about a reporting entity’s assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses that is useful to users of financial statements in assessing the prospects for future net cash inflows to the entity and in assessing management’s stewardship of the entity’s economic resources.

A complete set of financial statements comprises:

The statements listed in paragraphs 10(a)–10(d) (and their comparative information) are referred to as the primary financial statements. An entity may use titles for the statements other than those used in this Standard. For example, an entity may use the title ‘balance sheet’ instead of ‘statement of financial position’. In addition, although this Standard uses terms such as ‘other comprehensive income’, ‘profit or loss’ and ‘total comprehensive income’, an entity may use other terms to label the totals, subtotals and line items required by this Standard as long as they are labelled in a way that faithfully represents the characteristics of the items, as required by paragraph 43. For example, an entity may use the term ‘net income’ to label ‘profit or loss’.

An entity shall present its statement(s) of financial performance as either:

In this Standard: 

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

To achieve the objective of financial statements (see paragraph 9), an entity presents information in the primary financial statements and discloses information in the notes. An entity need only present or disclose material information (see paragraphs 19 and B1–B5).

The role of the primary financial statements is to provide structured summaries of a reporting entity’s recognised assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses and cash flows, that are useful to users of financial statements for: 

The role of the notes is to provide material information necessary: 

An entity shall use the roles of the primary financial statements and the notes, described in paragraphs 16–17, to determine whether to include information in the primary financial statements or in the notes. The different roles of the primary financial statements and the notes mean that the extent of the information required in the notes differs from that in the primary financial statements. The differences mean that: 

Some Australian Accounting Standards specify information that is required to be presented in the primary financial statements or disclosed in the notes. An entity need not provide a specific presentation or disclosure required by Australian Accounting Standards if the information resulting from that presentation or disclosure is not material. This is the case even if Australian Accounting Standards contain a list of specific requirements or describe them as minimum requirements.

An entity shall consider whether to provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in Australian Accounting Standards is insufficient to enable users of financial statements to understand the effect of transactions and other events and conditions on the entity’s financial position and financial performance.

Paragraph 16 establishes that the role of the primary financial statements is to provide structured summaries that are useful for the purposes specified in that paragraph (referred to hereafter as a useful structured summary). An entity shall use the role of the primary financial statements to determine what material information to present in those statements, as set out in paragraphs 22–24.

To provide a useful structured summary in a primary financial statement, an entity shall comply with specific requirements that determine the structure of the statement. The specific requirements are: 

Some Australian Accounting Standards require specific line items to be presented separately in the primary financial statements (for example paragraphs 75 and 103 of this Standard). An entity need not present separately a line item in a primary financial statement if doing so is not necessary for the statement to provide a useful structured summary. This is the case even if Australian Accounting Standards contain a list of specific required line items or describe the line items as minimum requirements (see paragraph B8).

An entity shall present additional line items and subtotals if such presentations are necessary for a primary financial statement to provide a useful structured summary. When an entity presents additional line items or subtotals, those line items or subtotals shall (see paragraph B9): 

An entity shall clearly identify the financial statements and distinguish them from other information in the same published document (see paragraph B10).

Australian Accounting Standards apply only to financial statements, and not necessarily to other information provided in an annual report, a regulatory filing or another document. Therefore, it is important that users of financial statements can distinguish information that is prepared using Australian Accounting Standards from other information that may be useful to users but is not the subject of those requirements.

An entity shall clearly identify each primary financial statement and the notes. In addition, an entity shall disclose prominently, and repeat when necessary for the information provided to be understandable: 

An entity shall provide a complete set of financial statements at least annually. When an entity changes the end of its reporting period and provides financial statements for a period longer or shorter than one year, the entity shall disclose, in addition to the period covered by the financial statements: 

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.

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

Except when Australian Accounting Standards permit or require otherwise, an entity shall provide comparative information (that is, information for the preceding reporting 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 necessary for an understanding of the current period’s financial statements (see paragraph B13).

An entity shall present a current reporting period and preceding period in each of its primary financial statements and in the notes. Paragraphs B14–B15 set out requirements relating to additional comparative information.

If an entity changes the presentation, disclosure 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): 

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

Enhancing the inter-period comparability of information assists users of financial statements in making economic decisions, especially by allowing the assessment of trends in information for predictive purposes. In some circumstances, it is impracticable to reclassify comparative information for a particular prior reporting period to achieve consistency 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.

AASB 108 sets out the adjustments to comparative information required when an entity changes an accounting policy or corrects an error.

An entity shall present a third statement of financial position as at the beginning of the preceding period in addition to the comparative information required in paragraphs 31–32 if: 

In the circumstances described in paragraph 37 an entity shall present three statements of financial position – a statement of financial position as at: 

When an entity is required to present a third statement of financial position applying paragraph 37, it shall disclose the information required by paragraphs 33⁠–36 and AASB 108. However, it need not provide the related notes to the statement of financial position as at the beginning of the preceding period.

The date of that third statement of financial position shall be as at the beginning of the preceding period regardless of whether an entity’s financial statements provide comparative information for earlier periods (as permitted by paragraphs B14–B15).

For the purposes of this Standard, an item is an asset, liability, equity instrument or reserve, income, expense or cash flow or any aggregation or disaggregation of such assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses or cash flows. A line item is an item that is presented separately in the primary financial statements. Other material information about items is disclosed in the notes. Unless doing so would override specific aggregation or disaggregation requirements in Australian Accounting Standards, an entity shall (see paragraphs B16–B23): 

Applying the principles in paragraph 41, an entity shall disaggregate items whenever the resulting information is material. If, applying paragraph 41(c), an entity does not present material information in the primary financial statements, it shall disclose the information in the notes. Paragraphs B79 and B111 set out examples of income, expenses, assets, liabilities and items of equity that might have sufficiently dissimilar characteristics that presentation in the statement of profit or loss or statement of financial position or disclosure in the notes is necessary to provide material information.

An entity shall label and describe items presented in the primary financial statements (that is, totals, subtotals and line items) or items disclosed in the notes in a way that faithfully represents the characteristics of the item (see paragraphs B24–B26). To faithfully represent an item, an entity shall provide all descriptions and explanations necessary for a user of financial statements to understand the item. In some cases, an entity might need to include in the descriptions and explanations the meaning of the terms the entity uses and information about how it has aggregated or disaggregated assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses and cash flows.

An entity shall not offset assets and liabilities or income and expenses, unless required or permitted by an Australian Accounting Standard (see paragraphs B27–B28).

An entity reports separately both assets and liabilities, and income and expenses. Offsetting in the statement(s) of financial performance or the statement of financial position, except when offsetting reflects the substance of the transaction or other event, reduces users’ ability to understand the transactions and 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 allowances for expected credit losses on financial assets – is not offsetting.

An entity shall include all items of income and expense in a reporting period in the statement of profit or loss unless an Australian Accounting Standard requires or permits otherwise (see paragraphs 88–95 and B86).

An entity shall classify income and expenses included in the statement of profit or loss in one of five categories (see paragraph B29): 

Paragraphs 52–68 set out requirements for classifying income and expenses in the operating, investing, financing, income taxes and discontinued operations categories. In addition, paragraphs B65–B76 set out requirements on how foreign exchange differences, the gain or loss on the net monetary position, and gains and losses on derivatives and designated hedging instruments are classified in the categories.

To classify income and expenses in the operating, investing and financing categories, an entity shall assess whether it has a specified main business activity – that is a main business activity of (see paragraphs B30–B41): 

Applying paragraphs 55–58 and 65–66, an entity with a specified main business activity classifies in the operating category some income and expenses that would have been classified in the investing or financing category if the activity were not a main business activity.

If an entity: 

An entity shall classify in the operating category all income and expenses included in the statement of profit or loss that are not classified in (see paragraph B42): 

Except as required by paragraphs 55–58 for an entity that has a specified main business activity, an entity shall classify in the investing category income and expenses specified in paragraph 54 from: 

The income and expenses from the assets identified in paragraph 53 that an entity shall classify in the investing category comprise the amounts included in the statement of profit or loss for (see paragraph B47): 

For the assets specified in paragraph 53(a) (that is, investments in associates, joint ventures and unconsolidated subsidiaries) that an entity invests in as a main business activity (see paragraph B38), the entity shall classify the income and expenses specified in paragraph 54: 

For the assets specified in paragraph 53(b) (that is, cash and cash equivalents), an entity shall classify the income and expenses specified in paragraph 54 in the investing category unless: 

If an entity applying paragraph 56(b) cannot distinguish between the cash and cash equivalents described in paragraphs 56(b)(i) and 56(b)(ii), it shall apply the accounting policy choice in paragraph 56(b)(ii) to classify income and expenses from all cash and cash equivalents in the operating category.

For the assets specified in paragraph 53(c) (that is, other assets if they generate a return individually and largely independently of the entity’s other resources) that an entity invests in as a main business activity (see paragraph B40), the entity shall classify the income and expenses specified in paragraph 54 in the operating category.

To determine what income and expenses to classify in the financing category, an entity shall distinguish between: 

For the liabilities specified in paragraph 59(a) (that is, liabilities that arise from transactions that involve only the raising of finance), except as set out in paragraphs 63–66, an entity shall classify in the financing category the amounts included in the statement of profit or loss for: 

For the liabilities specified in paragraph 59(b) (that is, liabilities that arise from transactions that do not involve only the raising of finance), except as set out in paragraphs 63–64, an entity shall classify in the financing category: 

Paragraphs B56–B57 set out how an entity shall apply the requirements in paragraphs 59–61 to hybrid contracts that contain a host that is a liability.

The requirements in paragraphs 60–61 do not apply to gains and losses on derivatives and designated hedging instruments. An entity shall apply paragraphs B70–B76 to classify such gains and losses.

An entity shall exclude from the financing category and classify in the operating category: 

If an entity provides financing to customers as a main business activity, it shall classify income and expenses (see paragraph B59): 

If an entity applying paragraph 65(a) cannot distinguish between the liabilities described in paragraphs 65(a)(i) and 65(a)(ii), it shall apply the accounting policy choice in paragraph 65(a)(ii) to classify income and expenses from all such liabilities in the operating category.

An entity shall classify in the income taxes category tax expense or tax income that is included in the statement of profit or loss applying AASB 112 Income Taxes, and any related foreign exchange differences (see paragraphs B65–B68).

An entity shall classify in the discontinued operations category income and expenses from discontinued operations as required by AASB 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations.

An entity shall present totals and subtotals in the statement of profit or loss for: 

Operating profit or loss comprises all income and expenses classified in the operating category.

Profit or loss before financing and income taxes comprises: 

Profit or loss is the total of income less expenses included in the statement of profit or loss. Accordingly, it comprises all income and expenses classified in all categories in the statement of profit or loss (see paragraph 47).

An entity shall not apply paragraph 69(b) if it applies the accounting policy set out in paragraph 65(a)(ii) of classifying in the operating category income and expenses from liabilities that do not relate to the provision of financing to customers. However, such an entity shall apply paragraph 24 to determine whether to present an additional subtotal after operating profit and before the financing category. For example, the entity would present a subtotal for operating profit or loss and income and expenses from investments accounted for using the equity method if the entity determines doing so is necessary to provide a useful structured summary of its income and expenses.

If an entity described in paragraph 73 presents an additional subtotal comprising operating profit or loss and all income and expenses classified in the investing category, it shall not label the subtotal in a way that implies the subtotal excludes financing amounts, such as ‘profit before financing’. Applying paragraph 43, the entity shall label the subtotal in a way that faithfully represents the amounts included in the subtotal.

An entity shall present in the statement of profit or loss line items for (see paragraph B77): 

An entity shall present in the statement of profit or loss (outside all the categories described in paragraph 47) an allocation of profit or loss for the reporting period attributable to: 

Paragraphs B78–B79 set out requirements on how an entity uses its judgement to determine whether to present additional line items in the statement of profit or loss or disclose items in the notes.

In the operating category of the statement of profit or loss, an entity shall classify and present expenses in line items in a way that provides the most useful structured summary of its expenses, using one or both of these characteristics (see paragraphs B80–B85): 

Any individual line item shall comprise operating expenses aggregated on the basis of only one of these characteristics, but the same characteristic does not have to be used as the aggregation basis for all line items (see paragraph B81).

In classifying expenses by nature (‘nature expenses’), an entity provides information about operating expenses related to the nature of the economic resources consumed to accomplish the entity’s activities without reference to the activities in relation to which those economic resources were consumed. Such information includes information about raw material expense, employee benefit expense, depreciation and amortisation.

In classifying expenses by function within the entity, an entity allocates and aggregates operating expenses according to the activity to which the consumed resource relates. For example, cost of sales is a function line item that combines expenses relating to an entity’s production or other revenue-generating activities such as: raw material expense, employee benefit expense, depreciation and amortisation. Therefore, when classifying expenses by function, an entity might: 

If an entity presents one or more line items comprising expenses classified by function in the operating category of the statement of profit or loss, it shall: 

An entity that presents one or more line items comprising expenses classified by function in the operating category of the statement of profit or loss shall also disclose in a single note: 

Paragraph 41 requires an entity to disaggregate items to provide material information. However, an entity that applies paragraph 83 is exempt from disclosing: 

The exemption in paragraph 84 relates to disaggregation of operating expenses. However, it does not exempt an entity from applying specific disclosure requirements relating to those expenses in Australian Accounting Standards.

An entity shall present in the statement presenting comprehensive income totals for: 

An entity shall present an allocation of comprehensive income for the reporting period attributable to: 

An entity shall classify income and expenses included in the statement presenting comprehensive income in one of two categories: 

An entity shall present, in each of the categories of the statement presenting comprehensive income, line items for: 

An entity shall present in the statement presenting comprehensive income or disclose in the notes reclassification adjustments relating to components of other comprehensive income (see paragraphs B88–B89).

Other Australian Accounting Standards specify whether and when amounts previously included in other comprehensive income are reclassified to profit or loss. Such reclassifications are referred to in this Standard as reclassification adjustments. An entity includes a reclassification adjustment with the related component of other comprehensive income in the period that the adjustment is reclassified to profit or loss. An entity might have included these amounts in other comprehensive income as unrealised gains in the current or prior periods. An entity shall deduct them from other comprehensive income in the period in which the realised gains are reclassified to profit or loss to avoid including them in total comprehensive income twice.

An entity disclosing reclassification adjustments in the notes shall present in the statement presenting comprehensive income the items of other comprehensive income after any related reclassification adjustments.

An entity shall either present in the statement presenting comprehensive income or disclose in the notes the amount of income taxes relating to each item of other comprehensive income, including reclassification adjustments (see paragraphs 61A and 63 of AASB 112).

An entity may present items of other comprehensive income either: 

If an entity selects the alternative in paragraph 94(b), it shall allocate the tax between the categories set out in paragraph 88.

An entity shall present current and non-current assets, and current and non-current liabilities, as separate classifications in its statement of financial position in accordance with paragraphs 99–102 except when a presentation based on liquidity provides a more useful structured summary. When that exception applies, an entity shall present all assets and liabilities in order of liquidity (see paragraphs B90–B93).

Whichever method of presentation is adopted, an entity shall disclose the amount expected to be recovered or settled after more than 12 months for each asset and liability line item that combines amounts expected to be recovered or settled: 

When an entity presents current and non-current assets, and current and non-current liabilities, as separate classifications in its statement of financial position, it shall not classify deferred tax assets (liabilities) as current assets (liabilities).

An entity shall classify an asset as current when (see paragraphs B94–B95): 

An entity shall classify all assets other than those specified in paragraph 99 as non-current.

An entity shall classify a liability as current when: 

An entity shall classify all liabilities other than those specified in paragraph 101 as non-current.

An entity shall present in the statement of financial position line items for: 

An entity shall present in the statement of financial position: 

Paragraphs B109–B111 set out requirements on how an entity uses its judgement to determine whether to present additional line items in the statement of financial position or disclose items in the notes.

Subject to paragraph 96, this Standard does not prescribe the order or format in which an entity presents items in the statement of financial position. In addition, the descriptions used and the ordering of items or aggregation of similar items may be amended according to the nature of the entity and its transactions, to provide a useful structured summary of the entity’s assets, liabilities and equity. For example, a financial institution may amend the descriptions in paragraph 103 to provide a useful structured summary of the assets, liabilities and equity of a financial institution.

An entity shall present a statement of changes in equity as required by paragraph 10. The statement of changes in equity shall include: 

AASB 108 requires retrospective adjustments for changes in accounting policies, to the extent practicable, except when the transition requirements in another Australian Accounting Standard require otherwise. AASB 108 also requires restatements to correct errors to be made retrospectively, to the extent practicable. Retrospective adjustments and retrospective restatements are not changes in equity, but they are adjustments to the opening balance of retained earnings, except when Australian Accounting Standards require retrospective adjustment of another component of equity. Paragraph 107(b) requires an entity to present in the statement of changes in equity the total adjustment to each component of equity resulting from changes in accounting policies and, separately, from corrections of errors. An entity shall present these adjustments for each prior reporting period and the beginning of the period.

For each component of equity an entity shall either present in the statement of changes in equity or disclose in the notes an analysis of other comprehensive income by item (see paragraph 107(c)(ii)).

An entity shall either present in the statement of changes in equity or disclose in the notes the amount of dividends recognised as distributions to owners during the reporting period, and the related amount of dividends per share.

In paragraph 107, the components of equity include, for example, each class of contributed equity, the accumulated balance of each class of other comprehensive income and retained earnings.

Changes in an entity’s equity between the beginning and the end of the reporting period reflect the increase or decrease in its net assets during the period. Except for changes resulting from transactions with owners in their capacity as owners (such as equity contributions, reacquisitions of the entity’s own equity instruments and dividends) and transaction costs directly related to such transactions, the overall change in equity during a period represents the total amount of income and expenses, including gains and losses, generated by the entity’s activities during that period.

An entity shall disclose in the notes: 

An entity shall, as far as practicable, present notes in a systematic manner (see paragraph B112). In determining a systematic manner, the entity shall consider the effect on the understandability and comparability of its financial statements. An entity shall cross-reference each item in the primary financial statements to any related information in the notes. If amounts disclosed in the notes are included in one or more line items in the primary financial statements, an entity shall disclose in the note the line item(s) in which the amounts are included.

An entity may disclose notes providing information about the basis of preparation of the financial statements and specific accounting policies used in a separate section of the financial statements.

If not disclosed elsewhere in information published with the financial statements, an entity shall disclose in the notes: 

A management-defined performance measure is a subtotal of income and expenses that (see paragraphs B113–B122): 

Subtotals of income and expenses that are not management-defined performance measures are: 

An entity shall presume that a subtotal of income and expenses that it uses in public communications outside its financial statements communicates to users of financial statements management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole, unless, applying paragraph 120, the entity rebuts the presumption.

An entity is permitted to rebut the presumption described in paragraph 119 and assert that a subtotal does not communicate management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole, but only if it has reasonable and supportable information available that demonstrates the basis for the assertion (see paragraphs B124–B131).

The objective of the disclosures for management-defined performance measures is for an entity to provide information to help a user of financial statements understand: 

An entity shall disclose information about all measures that meet the definition of management-defined performance measures in paragraph 117 in a single note (see paragraphs B132–B133). This note shall include a statement that the management-defined performance measures provide management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole and are not necessarily comparable with measures sharing similar labels or descriptions provided by other entities.

An entity shall label and describe each management-defined performance measure in a clear and understandable manner that does not mislead users of financial statements (see paragraphs B134–B135). For each management-defined performance measure, the entity shall disclose: 

If an entity changes how it calculates a management-defined performance measure, adds a new management-defined performance measure, ceases using a previously disclosed management-defined performance measure or changes how it determines the income tax effects of the reconciling items required by paragraph 123(d), it shall disclose: 

If an entity does not disclose the restated comparative information required by paragraph 124(c) because it is impracticable to do so, it shall disclose that fact.

An entity shall disclose in the notes information that enables users of financial statements to evaluate the entity’s objectives, policies and processes for managing capital.

To comply with paragraph 126 an entity shall disclose in the notes: 

An entity shall base the note disclosures in paragraph 127 on the information provided internally to key management personnel.

An entity may manage capital in a number of ways and be subject to a number of different capital requirements. For example, a conglomerate may include entities that undertake insurance activities and banking activities and those entities may operate in several jurisdictions. When an aggregate disclosure of capital requirements and how capital is managed would not provide useful information or would distort a financial statement user’s understanding of an entity’s capital resources, the entity shall disclose separate information for each capital requirement to which the entity is subject.

An entity shall either present in the statement of financial position or the statement of changes in equity or disclose in the notes: 

An entity without share capital, such as a partnership or trust, shall disclose information equivalent to that required by paragraph 130(a), showing changes during the reporting period in each category of equity interest, and the rights, preferences and restrictions attaching to each category of equity interest.

An entity shall disclose in the notes: 

The adding together of assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses or cash flows that share characteristics and are included in the same classification.

The sorting of assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses and cash flows based on shared characteristics.

The separation of an item into component parts that have characteristics that are not shared.

Reports that provide financial information about a reporting entity that is useful to primary users in making decisions relating to providing resources to the entity. Those decisions involve decisions about: 

General purpose financial reports include – but are not restricted to – an entity’s general purpose financial statements and sustainability-related financial disclosures.

A particular form of general purpose financial reports that provide information about the reporting entity’s assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses.

Accounting standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. They comprise: 

IFRS Accounting Standards were previously known as International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS, IFRSs and IFRS Standards.

A subtotal of income and expenses that: 

Information is material if omitting, misstating or obscuring it could reasonably be expected to influence decisions that the primary users of general purpose financial statements make on the basis of those financial statements, which provide financial information about a specific reporting entity.

Information in financial statements provided in addition to that presented in the primary financial statements.

The total of all income and expenses classified in the operating category.

Items of income and expense (including reclassification adjustments) that are recognised outside profit or loss as required or permitted by other Australian Accounting Standards.

Holders of claims classified as equity.

The statement(s) of financial performance, the statement of financial position, the statement of changes in equity and the statement of cash flows.

The total of income less expenses included in the statement of profit or loss.

The total of operating profit or loss and all income and expenses classified in the investing category.

Amounts reclassified to profit or loss in the current reporting period that were included in other comprehensive income in the current or prior periods.

The change in equity during a reporting period resulting from transactions and other events, other than those changes resulting from transactions with owners in their capacity as owners.

A structured summary provided in a primary financial statement of a reporting entity’s recognised assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses and cash flows that is useful for: 

In respect of public sector entities, local governments, governments and most, if not all, government departments are reporting entities:

The Australian Government, the Government of the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria or Western Australia.

A government controlled entity, created pursuant to administrative arrangements or otherwise designated as a government department by the government which controls it.

An entity comprising all entities controlled by a governing body elected or appointed pursuant to a Local Government Act or similar legislation.

Information is material if omitting, misstating or obscuring it could reasonably be expected to influence decisions that the primary users of general purpose financial statements make on the basis of those financial statements, which provide financial information about a specific reporting entity.

Materiality depends on the nature or magnitude of information, or both. An entity assesses whether information, either individually or in combination with other information, is material in the context of its financial statements taken as a whole.

Information is obscured if it is communicated in a way that would have a similar effect for primary users of financial statements to omitting or misstating that information. The following are examples of circumstances that may result in material information being obscured: 

Assessing whether information could reasonably be expected to influence decisions made by the primary users of a specific reporting entity’s general purpose financial statements requires an entity to consider the characteristics of those users while also considering the entity’s own circumstances.

Many existing and potential investors, lenders and other creditors cannot require reporting entities to provide information directly to them and must rely on general purpose financial statements for much of the financial information they need. Consequently, they are the primary users to whom general purpose financial statements are directed. Financial statements are prepared for users who have a reasonable knowledge of business and economic activities and who review and analyse the information diligently. At times, even well-informed and diligent users may need to seek the aid of an adviser to understand information about complex economic phenomena.

Applying paragraph 17(a), an entity provides in the notes information necessary for users of financial statements to understand the line items presented in the primary financial statements. Examples of such information include: 

Applying paragraph 17(b), an entity supplements the primary financial statements with additional information necessary to achieve the objective of financial statements – that is: 

Paragraph 23 explains that an entity need not present separately a line item in a primary financial statement if doing so is not necessary for the statement to provide a useful structured summary, even if the line item is required by Australian Accounting Standards. For example, an entity need not present a line item listed in paragraph 75 if doing so is not necessary for the statement of profit or loss to provide a useful structured summary of income and expenses, or a line item listed in paragraph 103 if doing so is not necessary for the statement of financial position to provide a useful structured summary of assets, liabilities and equity. If an entity does not present the line items listed in paragraphs 75 and 103, it shall disclose the items in the notes if the resulting information is material (see paragraph 42).

Conversely, applying paragraph 24, an entity shall present additional line items to those listed in paragraphs 75 and 103 if such presentations are necessary for the statement of profit or loss to provide a useful structured summary of income and expenses or for the statement of financial position to provide a useful structured summary of assets, liabilities and equity (see paragraphs B78–B79 and B109–B111).

Paragraph 25 requires an entity to clearly identify the financial statements and distinguish them from other information in the same published document. An entity meets these requirements by providing appropriate headings for pages, statements, notes, columns and the like. Judgement is required in determining the best way of providing such information. For example, if an entity provides the financial statements electronically, an entity considers other ways to meet the requirements – for example, by appropriate digital tagging of information provided in the financial statements.

An entity often makes financial statements more understandable by providing information in thousands or millions of units of the presentation currency. This practice is acceptable as long as the entity discloses the level of rounding and does not omit material information.

Paragraph 30(a) requires an entity to change the presentation, disclosure or classification of items in the financial statements if it is apparent that another presentation, disclosure or classification would be more appropriate. For example, a significant acquisition or disposal, or a review of the financial statements, might suggest that the financial statements need to be changed. An entity is permitted to change the presentation, disclosure or classification of items in its financial statements only if the change provides information that is more useful to users of financial statements and if the entity is likely to continue using the revised presentation, disclosure or classification, so that inter-period comparability is not impaired. When making such changes, an entity reclassifies its comparative information in accordance with paragraphs 33–34.

In some cases, narrative information provided in the financial statements for the preceding reporting 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 of financial statements might 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.

An entity may provide comparative information in addition to the comparative information required by Australian Accounting Standards, as long as that information is prepared in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards. This additional comparative information may consist of one or more of the primary financial statements referred to in paragraph 10, but need not comprise a complete set of financial statements. When this is the case, the entity shall disclose in the notes information for those additional primary financial statements.

For example, an entity may present a third statement (or statements) of financial performance (thereby presenting the current reporting 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 (that is, an additional primary financial statement comparative). The entity is required to disclose in the notes the comparative information related to that additional statement(s) of financial performance.

Financial statements result from entities processing large numbers of transactions and other events. These transactions and other events give rise to assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses and cash flows.

To apply the requirements in paragraph 41, an entity shall aggregate items based on shared characteristics (that is, aggregate items that have similar characteristics) and disaggregate items based on characteristics that are not shared (that is, disaggregate items that have dissimilar characteristics). In doing so, an entity shall: 

An entity may apply the steps in paragraphs B17(a)–B17(c) in varying order to apply the principles of aggregation and disaggregation in paragraph 41.

Paragraphs B16–B18 explain that an entity uses its judgement to aggregate and disaggregate assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses and cash flows from individual transactions and other events based on similar and dissimilar characteristics. Paragraphs B78 and B110 set out examples of characteristics an entity considers in making its judgements.

The more similar the characteristics of assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses and cash flows are, the more likely it is that aggregating them will fulfil the role of the primary financial statements (that is, to provide useful structured summaries as described in paragraph 16) or the notes (that is, to provide material information as described in paragraph 17). The more dissimilar the characteristics of assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses and cash flows are, the more likely it is that disaggregating the items will fulfil the roles of the primary financial statements or the notes.

The items aggregated and presented as line items in the primary financial statements shall have at least one similar characteristic other than meeting the definition of assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses or cash flows. However, because the role of the primary financial statements is to provide useful structured summaries, the line items in the primary financial statements are also likely to aggregate items that have sufficiently dissimilar characteristics that information about the disaggregated items is material.

Applying paragraph 41, an entity shall disaggregate items that have dissimilar characteristics when the resulting information is material. A single dissimilar characteristic could result in information about disaggregated items being material.

For example, an entity might present in the statement of financial position financial assets that comprise equity investments and debt investments separately from non-financial assets. The financial assets have dissimilar characteristics because they have different measurement bases – some are measured at fair value through profit or loss and others at amortised cost. The entity might therefore determine that to provide a useful structured summary it is necessary to present line items that disaggregate the financial assets based on those measurement bases. That disaggregation results in a line item comprising equity investments and debt investments measured at fair value through profit or loss and a line item comprising debt investments measured at amortised cost. Because equity investments are dissimilar to debt investments in that each exposes the entity to different risks, the entity would assess whether further disaggregation in the statement of financial position of financial assets measured at fair value through profit or loss into equity investments and debt investments is needed to provide a useful structured summary. If not, and if the resulting information were material, the entity would need to disclose in the notes the equity investments separately from the debt investments. In addition if, for example, the equity investments had other dissimilar characteristics, the entity would be required to disaggregate further those equity investments in the notes if the resulting information were material.

Paragraph 43 requires an entity to label and describe items presented or disclosed in a way that faithfully represents the characteristics of the item. Such items will often be aggregations of items arising from individual transactions or other events and could vary in whether they are aggregations of items for which information is material and items for which information is immaterial. Specifically, in either the primary financial statements or in the notes: 

An entity shall label items presented or disclosed as ‘other’ only if it cannot find a more informative label. Examples of how an entity might find a more informative label are: 

If an entity cannot find a more informative label than ‘other’: 

Paragraph 44 prohibits an entity from offsetting assets and liabilities or income and expenses unless required or permitted by an Australian Accounting Standard. For example, AASB 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. The amount of revenue recognised reflects any trade discounts and volume rebates the entity allows. In contrast, an entity might undertake, in the course of its ordinary activities, other transactions that do not generate revenue but are incidental to the main revenue-generating activities. The entity would present in the primary financial statements or disclose in the notes the results of such transactions, when this presentation or disclosure reflects the substance of the transaction or other event, by netting any income with related expenses arising on the same transaction. For example: 

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 that are included in the same category of the statement(s) of financial performance applying paragraphs 47–68. However, an entity shall disclose such gains and losses separately in the notes if doing so provides material information.

Paragraph 47 requires an entity to classify income and expenses included in the statement of profit or loss in one of five categories. The operating category comprises all income and expenses included in the statement of profit or loss that are not classified in the other categories (see paragraph 52). Income and expenses classified in the discontinued operations category applying paragraph 68 are not subject to the requirements for classifying items of income and expense in the categories listed in paragraphs 47(a)–(d). Income and expenses classified in the income taxes category applying paragraph 67 are not subject to the requirements for classifying items of income and expense in the categories listed in paragraphs 47(a)–(c).

Paragraph 49 requires an entity to assess whether it invests in assets or provides financing to customers as a main business activity. An entity may have more than one main business activity. For example, an entity that manufactures a product and also provides financing to customers may determine that both its manufacturing activity and customer-finance activity are main business activities. To classify income and expenses into the categories of operating, investing and financing as required by this Standard, an entity need only determine whether either of, or both, investing in assets and providing financing to customers are main business activities.

Examples of entities that might invest in assets as a main business activity include: 

Examples of entities that might provide financing to customers as a main business activity include: 

Whether investing in assets or providing financing to customers is a main business activity of the entity is a matter of fact and not merely an assertion. An entity shall use its judgement to assess whether investing in assets or providing financing to customers is a main business activity and that assessment shall be based on evidence.

In general, investing in assets or providing financing to customers is likely to be a main business activity of an entity if the entity uses a particular type of subtotal as an important indicator of operating performance. The particular type of subtotal is a subtotal similar to gross profit (see paragraph B123) that includes income and expenses that would be classified in the investing or financing categories if investing in assets or providing financing to customers were not main business activities.

Evidence that subtotals similar to gross profit described in paragraph B123 are important indicators of operating performance includes using such subtotals to: 

Information about segments may provide evidence that investing in assets or providing financing to customers is a main business activity if an entity applies AASB 8 Operating Segments. Specifically: 

An entity shall assess whether investing in assets or providing financing to customers is a main business activity for the reporting entity as a whole. Accordingly, the assessment of whether investing in assets or providing financing to customers is a main business activity by a reporting entity that is a consolidated group and a reporting entity that is one of the subsidiaries in the consolidated group could have different outcomes.

An entity shall assess whether it invests as a main business activity in associates, joint ventures and unconsolidated subsidiaries not accounted for using the equity method (see paragraphs B43(b)–(c) and B44(b)–(c)) by individual asset or using groups of assets with shared characteristics. If an entity prepares separate financial statements as specified in AASB 127 Separate Financial Statements and performs the assessment for groups of assets, the entity shall use groups of assets that are consistent with the categories used to determine their measurement basis applying paragraph 10 of AASB 127. An entity need not assess whether it invests as a main business activity in associates, joint ventures and non-consolidated subsidiaries accounted for using the equity method (see paragraphs B43(a) and B44(a)) because it is required to classify the income and expenses from those investments in the investing category (see paragraph 55(a)).

An entity need not assess whether it invests as a main business activity in cash and cash equivalents (see paragraph 53(b)). An entity is required to classify income and expenses from cash and cash equivalents in the investing category unless paragraphs 56(a) or 56(b) apply.

An entity shall assess whether it invests as a main business activity in other assets that generate a return individually and largely independently of the entity’s other resources (see paragraph 53(c)) by assessing an individual asset or groups of assets with shared characteristics. When performing the assessment for groups of financial assets an entity shall use groups of financial assets that are consistent with the classes of financial assets identified by the entity in applying paragraph 6 of AASB 7.

An entity shall assess whether investing in assets or providing financing to customers is a main business activity based on the facts at the time, so a change in the outcome of the assessment does not change the outcome of the previous assessments. Accordingly, an entity classifies and presents income and expenses applying the change in the outcome of the assessment prospectively from the date of the change and does not reclassify amounts presented before the date of the change. Unless it is impracticable to do so, paragraph 51(c)(ii) requires an entity to disclose the amount and classification of items of income and expense before and after the date of the change in the outcome of the assessment in the current period and the amount and classification in the prior period for items for which the classification has changed because of the change in the outcome of the assessment.

The requirements in paragraphs 47–66 result in an entity classifying income and expenses from its main business activities in the operating category of the statement of profit or loss, except for any such income and expenses from investments accounted for using the equity method. Furthermore, the operating category is not limited to income and expenses from an entity’s main business activities. It includes all income and expenses that are not classified by an entity in the other categories applying paragraphs 53–68, including such income or expenses that are volatile or non-recurring.

Paragraphs 53 and 55 set out requirements for the classification of income and expenses from investments in associates and joint ventures. These investments comprise: 

Paragraphs 53 and 55 also set out requirements for the classification of income and expenses from unconsolidated subsidiaries. Investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries comprise: 

Paragraph 53(c) requires an entity to identify assets that generate a return individually and largely independently of the entity’s other resources. The return could be positive or negative.

Assets that generate a return individually and largely independently of the entity’s other resources in paragraph 53(c) typically include: 

Income and expenses specified in paragraph 54 from such assets typically include: 

Assets that an entity uses in combination to produce or supply goods or services do not generate a return individually and largely independently of the entity’s other resources. Such assets typically include: 

Income and expenses from the assets described in paragraph B48 are classified in the operating category – for example: 

Paragraph 59(a) requires an entity to identify liabilities that arise from transactions that involve only the raising of finance. In such transactions, an entity: 

Liabilities arising from transactions that involve only the raising of finance include: 

Examples of income and expenses from such liabilities that paragraph 60 requires an entity to classify in the financing category include: 

Paragraph 59(b) requires an entity to identify liabilities that arise from transactions that do not involve only the raising of finance. Such liabilities include: 

Examples of income and expenses from such liabilities that paragraph 61 requires an entity to classify in the financing category include: 

Examples of income and expenses that arise from transactions that do not involve only the raising of finance but that are not in the scope of paragraph 61, and accordingly are classified in the operating category, include: 

How an entity classifies income and expenses from a hybrid contract with a host that is a liability depends on whether the embedded derivative is separated from the host contract. If the embedded derivative: 

An entity shall apply paragraphs B56(b) and B56(c) to all hybrid contracts containing a host liability for which the embedded derivative is not separated, regardless of whether the embedded derivative is not separated by the entity applying paragraph 4.3.3 of AASB 9 or applying paragraph 4.3.5 of AASB 9.

Paragraph 64(a) sets out requirements for income and expenses from liabilities arising from issued investment contracts with participation features recognised applying AASB 9. Examples of such investment contracts are: 

Paragraph 65 requires an entity that provides financing to customers as a main business activity to classify in the operating category income and expenses from some or all liabilities that arise from transactions that involve only the raising of finance. An entity shall also apply the requirements in that paragraph to income and expenses from a derivative relating to a transaction that involves only the raising of finance specified in paragraph B73(a), but not to the income and expenses from a hybrid contract specified in paragraph B56(c)(i).

Paragraphs B47(g) and B49(e) refer to income and expenses from the derecognition of an asset, or its classification as held for sale. An entity shall classify income and expenses on the derecognition of an asset, or its classification as held for sale and any subsequent measurement while held for sale, in the same category as it classified the income and expenses from the asset immediately before its derecognition. For example, an entity shall classify gains and losses: 

An entity shall classify income and expenses from the derecognition of a liability by applying the requirements in paragraphs 52 and 59–60. For example, the entity classifies income and expenses from the derecognition of a liability: 

A transaction or other event might change the category in the statement of profit or loss in which an entity classifies income and expenses from an asset, without the asset being derecognised. In such cases, an entity shall classify the income and expenses from the transaction or other event in the category in which it classified income and expenses from the asset immediately before the transaction or event. For example, an entity shall classify in the operating category any income or expenses recognised in the statement of profit or loss on the transfer of property from the scope of AASB 116 to investment property in the scope of AASB 140.

Paragraphs B60–B62 set out requirements for income and expenses from an asset or liability from its derecognition, classification and subsequent measurement while held for sale, or from its change in use. A transaction or other event might result in these outcomes for a group of assets (or a group of assets and liabilities) that generated income and expenses that an entity classified in different categories immediately before the transaction or other event. An entity shall classify income or expenses from such a transaction or other event: 

For example, an entity classifies: 

To apply paragraph 47, an entity shall classify foreign exchange differences included in the statement of profit or loss applying AASB 121 in the same category as the income and expenses from the items that gave rise to the foreign exchange differences, unless doing so would involve undue cost or effort (see paragraph B68).

For example, an entity classifies foreign exchange differences on: 

An entity might classify in more than one category income and expenses from a transaction that does not involve only the raising of finance. For example, the purchase of services in a transaction denominated in a foreign currency and negotiated on extended credit terms could give rise to an expense for the purchase of the services classified in the operating category (see paragraph B55(a)) and interest expenses classified in the financing category (see paragraph B54(a)). In such cases, subject to paragraph B68, an entity shall use its judgement to determine whether the foreign exchange difference relates to the amount classified in the financing category – and classify it in that category – or whether it relates to the amount classified in another category – and classify it in that category. An entity shall not allocate between categories a foreign exchange difference arising on a liability from a transaction that does not involve only the raising of finance. In making its judgements about how to classify the foreign exchange differences, an entity need not classify in the same category the foreign exchange differences on all such liabilities. However, an entity shall classify in the same category foreign exchange differences on similar liabilities.

If applying the requirements in paragraphs B65 and B67 would involve undue cost or effort, an entity shall instead classify the affected foreign exchange differences in the operating category. An entity shall assess whether classifying foreign exchange differences as described in paragraphs B65 and B67 involves undue cost or effort for each item that gives rise to foreign exchange differences. The assessment is specific to the facts and circumstances related to each item. If the same facts and circumstances relate to a number of items, an entity could apply the same assessment to each of the items.

Applying paragraph 28 of AASB 129 Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies, an entity might present the gain or loss on the net monetary position with other income and expense items associated with the net monetary position, such as interest income and expenses and foreign exchange differences. If the entity does not present the gain or loss on the net monetary position with the associated income and expenses, it shall classify the gain or loss in the operating category.

Paragraph 47 requires an entity to classify income and expenses in categories in the statement of profit or loss. To apply paragraph 47, an entity shall classify gains and losses included in the statement of profit or loss on a financial instrument designated as a hedging instrument applying AASB 9 in the same category as the income and expenses affected by the risks the financial instrument is used to manage. However, if doing so would require the grossing up of gains and losses, an entity shall classify all such gains and losses in the operating category (see paragraphs B74–B75).

An entity shall classify gains and losses on an undesignated component of a designated hedging instrument in the same category as gains and losses on the designated component. An entity shall classify ineffective portions of a gain or loss in the same category as the effective portions.

An entity shall also apply the requirements in paragraph B70 to gains and losses on a derivative that is not designated as a hedging instrument applying AASB 9, but is used to manage identified risks. However, if doing so would require the grossing up of gains or losses (see paragraphs B74–B75) or involve undue cost or effort, the entity shall instead classify all gains and losses on the derivative in the operating category.

An entity shall classify gains and losses on a derivative that is not used to manage identified risks: 

Paragraphs B70 and B72 prohibit the grossing up of gains and losses on financial instruments designated as hedging instruments and derivatives not designated as hedging instruments. The grossing up of gains and losses might arise from situations in which: 

For example, an entity may use a derivative to manage both the net foreign currency risk on revenue (classified in the operating category) and interest expenses (classified in the financing category). In such cases, the foreign exchange differences on the revenue are offset by the foreign exchange differences on the interest expenses and the gains or losses on the derivative. However, the entity classifies the foreign exchange differences on the revenue in a different category from the foreign exchange differences on the interest expenses. To present the gain or loss on the derivative in each category, an entity would need to present in each category a larger gain or loss than occurred on the derivative. Applying the requirements in paragraphs B70–B73, an entity shall not gross up the gains or losses in this manner and instead shall classify any gain or loss on the derivative in the operating category.

The requirements in paragraphs B70–B75 specify only how to classify income and expenses into categories of the statement of profit or loss. They do not prescribe the line item (or line items) in which to include such income and expenses, nor do they override the requirements in other Australian Accounting Standards.

An entity may be required to present a line item listed in paragraph 75, or specified in another Australian Accounting Standard, in more than one of the categories listed in paragraph 47. For example, an entity that does not invest in assets or provide financing to customers as a main business activity may be required to present the line item specified in paragraph 75(b)(ii) of impairment losses determined in accordance with Section 5.5 of AASB 9 in: 

Paragraphs 24 and 41(c) require an entity to present additional line items in the statement of profit or loss if doing so is necessary to provide a useful structured summary of the entity’s income and expenses. An entity uses its judgement to make this determination (including whether it is necessary to disaggregate the line items listed in paragraph 75). Paragraphs 20 and 41(d) require an entity to disaggregate items to disclose material information in the notes. An entity also uses its judgement to make this determination. Paragraph 41 requires the entity to base its judgements on an assessment of whether the items have characteristics that are shared (similar characteristics) or characteristics that are not shared (dissimilar characteristics). Such characteristics include: 

Income and expenses that might have sufficiently dissimilar characteristics that presentation in the statement of profit or loss is necessary to provide a useful structured summary or disclosure in the notes is necessary to provide material information include: 

In determining how to use the characteristics of nature and function to provide the most useful structured summary as required by paragraph 78, an entity shall consider: 

In some cases, an entity considering the factors set out in paragraph B80 could determine that classifying and presenting some expenses by nature and other expenses by function provides the most useful structured summary. For example: 

If an entity classifies and presents some expenses by nature and other expenses by function in the statement of profit or loss, it shall label the resulting line items in a way that clearly identifies what expenses are included in each line item. For example, if an entity includes some employee benefits in a function line item and other employee benefits in a nature line item, the label for the nature line item would clearly identify that it does not include all employee benefits (for example, ‘employee benefits other than those included in cost of sales’).

Applying paragraph 30, an entity shall classify and present expenses consistently from one reporting period to the next unless paragraphs 30(a) or 30(b) apply. For example, if an entity presents impairment of goodwill as a nature line item in one reporting period, it shall also present any similar impairment of goodwill as a nature line item in subsequent reporting periods unless paragraphs 30(a) or 30(b) apply. If there is no similar impairment of goodwill in a subsequent period, the fact that there is an expense of nil in that subsequent period does not constitute a change in classification and presentation.

An entity will either present expenses by nature, or applying paragraph 83, disclose some expenses by nature. The amounts presented or disclosed need not be the amounts recognised as an expense in the period. They could include amounts that have been recognised as part of the carrying amount of an asset. If an entity: 

To apply paragraph 78, an entity shall consider what level of aggregation for operating expenses provides the most useful structured summary. For example, an entity might have various administrative activities (such as human resources, information technology, legal and accounting). To provide a useful structured summary, the entity might aggregate operating expenses relating to those activities based on their shared characteristic – all are expenses for resources consumed in administrative activities. Accordingly the entity might present them in a line item labelled as ‘administrative expenses’. The entity might also have expenses for resources consumed in selling activities. These expenses have a dissimilar characteristic from the administrative expenses – selling expenses arise from resources consumed in selling activities and administrative expenses arise from resources consumed in administrative activities. These characteristics are sufficiently dissimilar that disaggregation – presentation in separate line items for selling expenses and administrative expenses – might be necessary to provide a useful structured summary of the entity’s expenses.

Some Australian Accounting Standards specify circumstances when an entity includes particular items outside the statement of profit or loss in the current reporting period. AASB 108 specifies two such circumstances: the correction of errors and the effect of changes in accounting policies. Other Australian Accounting Standards require or permit an entity to exclude from profit or loss components of other comprehensive income that meet the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting’s definition of income or expenses (see paragraph B87).

Appendix A defines ‘other comprehensive income’. The components of other comprehensive income include: 

Reclassification adjustments arise, for example, on disposal of a foreign operation (see AASB 121) and when some hedged forecast cash flows affect profit or loss (see paragraph 6.5.11(d) of AASB 9 in relation to cash flow hedges).

Paragraph 90 requires an entity to present in the statement presenting comprehensive income or disclose in the notes reclassification adjustments relating to components of other comprehensive income. Reclassification adjustments do not arise on changes in revaluation surplus recognised in accordance with AASB 116 or AASB 138 or on remeasurements of defined benefit plans recognised in accordance with AASB 119. An entity recognises these components in other comprehensive income and does not reclassify them to profit or loss in subsequent reporting periods. An entity may transfer changes in revaluation surplus to retained earnings in subsequent periods as the asset is used or when it is derecognised (see AASB 116 and AASB 138). In accordance with AASB 9, reclassification adjustments do not arise if a cash flow hedge or the accounting for the time value of an option (or the forward element of a forward contract or the foreign currency basis spread of a financial instrument) results in amounts that an entity removes from the cash flow hedge reserve or a separate component of equity, respectively, and includes directly in the initial cost or other carrying amount of an asset or a liability. An entity transfers these amounts directly to assets or liabilities.

In applying paragraph 96, when an entity supplies goods or services within a clearly identifiable operating cycle, separate classification of current and non-current assets and liabilities in the statement of financial position provides useful information by distinguishing the net assets that are continuously circulating as working capital from those used in the entity’s long-term operations. Such separate classification also highlights assets that an entity expects to realise within the current operating cycle and liabilities that are due for settlement within the same period.

For some entities, such as financial institutions, a presentation of assets and liabilities in increasing or decreasing order of liquidity provides a more useful structured summary than a current/non-current presentation because the entity does not supply goods or services within a clearly identifiable operating cycle.

In applying paragraph 96, an entity is permitted to present some of its assets and liabilities using a current/non-current classification and others in order of liquidity when doing so provides a more useful structured summary. The need for a mixed basis of presentation might arise when an entity has diverse operations.

Information about expected dates of realisation of assets and liabilities is useful in assessing the liquidity and solvency of an entity. AASB 7 requires disclosure of the maturity analysis of financial assets and financial liabilities. Financial assets include trade and other receivables, and financial liabilities include trade and other payables. Information on the expected date of recovery of non-monetary assets, such as inventories, and the expected date of settlement for liabilities, such as provisions, is also useful, whether assets and liabilities are classified as current or as non-current. For example, an entity discloses in the notes the amount of inventories that it expects to recover more than 12 months after the reporting period.

Paragraph 100 requires an entity to classify as non-current all assets not classified as current. This Standard uses the term ‘non-current’ to include tangible, intangible and financial assets of a long-term nature. It does not prohibit the use of alternative descriptions as long as the meaning is clear.

The operating cycle of an entity is the time between the acquisition of assets for processing and their realisation in cash or cash equivalents. When an entity’s normal operating cycle is not clearly identifiable, it is assumed to be 12 months. Current assets include assets (such as inventories and trade receivables) that are sold, consumed or realised as part of the normal operating cycle even when they are not expected to be realised within 12 months after the reporting period. Current assets also include assets held primarily for the purpose of trading (examples include some financial assets that meet the definition of held for trading in AASB 9) and the current portion of non-current financial assets.

Some current liabilities, such as trade payables and some accruals for employee and other operating costs, are part of the working capital used in an entity’s normal operating cycle. An entity classifies such items as current liabilities even if they are due to be settled more than 12 months after the reporting period. The same normal operating cycle applies to the classification of the entity’s assets and liabilities. When the entity’s normal operating cycle is not clearly identifiable, it is assumed to be 12 months.

Other current liabilities are not settled as part of the normal operating cycle, but are due for settlement within 12 months after the reporting period or held primarily for the purpose of trading. Examples are some financial liabilities that meet the definition of held for trading in AASB 9, bank overdrafts, and the current portion of non-current financial liabilities, dividends payable, income taxes and other non-trade payables. Financial liabilities that provide financing on a long-term basis (that is, are not part of the working capital used in the entity’s normal operating cycle) and are not due for settlement within 12 months after the reporting period are non-current liabilities, subject to paragraphs B99–B103.

An entity classifies its financial liabilities as current when they are due to be settled within 12 months after the reporting period, even if: 

An entity’s right to defer settlement of a liability for at least 12 months after the reporting period must have substance and, as illustrated in paragraphs B100–B103, must exist at the end of the reporting period.

An entity’s right to defer settlement of a liability arising from a loan arrangement for at least 12 months after the reporting period may be subject to the entity complying with conditions specified in that loan arrangement (hereafter referred to as ‘covenants’). For the purposes of applying paragraph 101(d), such covenants: 

If an entity has the right, at the end of the reporting period, to roll over an obligation for at least 12 months after the reporting period under an existing loan facility, it classifies the obligation as non-current, even if it would otherwise be due within a shorter period. If the entity has no such right, the entity does not consider the potential to refinance the obligation and classifies the obligation as current.

When an entity breaches a covenant of a long-term loan arrangement on or before the end of the reporting period with the effect that the liability becomes payable on demand, it classifies the liability as current, even if the lender agreed, after the reporting period and before the authorisation of the financial statements for issue, not to demand payment as a consequence of the breach. The entity classifies the liability as current because, at the end of the reporting period, it does not have the right to defer its settlement for at least 12 months after that date.

However, an entity classifies the liability as non-current if the lender agreed by the end of the reporting period to provide a period of grace ending at least 12 months after the reporting period, within which the entity can rectify the breach and during which the lender cannot demand immediate repayment.

Classification of a liability is unaffected by the likelihood that the entity will exercise its right to defer settlement of the liability for at least 12 months after the reporting period. If a liability meets the criteria in paragraphs 101–102 for classification as non-current, it is classified as non-current even if management intends or expects the entity to settle the liability within 12 months after the reporting period, or even if the entity settles the liability between the end of the reporting period and the date the financial statements are authorised for issue. However, in either of those circumstances, the entity may need to disclose information about the timing of settlement to enable users of financial statements to understand the impact of the liability on the entity’s financial position (see paragraphs 6C(c) of AASB 108 and B105(d)).

If the following events occur between the end of the reporting period and the date the financial statements are authorised for issue, those events are disclosed as non-adjusting events in accordance with AASB 110 Events after the Reporting Period: 

In applying paragraphs 101–102 and B96–B103 an entity might classify liabilities arising from loan arrangements as non-current when the entity’s right to defer settlement of those liabilities is subject to the entity complying with covenants within 12 months after the reporting period (see paragraph B100(b)). In such situations, the entity shall disclose information in the notes that enables users of financial statements to understand the risk that the liabilities could become repayable within 12 months after the reporting period, including: 

For the purpose of classifying a liability as current or non-current, settlement refers to a transfer to the counterparty that results in the extinguishment of the liability. The transfer could be of: 

Terms of a liability that could, at the option of the counterparty, result in its settlement by the transfer of the entity’s own equity instruments do not affect its classification as current or non-current if, applying AASB 132, the entity classifies the option as an equity instrument, recognising it separately from the liability as an equity component of a compound financial instrument.

Paragraphs 24 and 41(c) require an entity to present additional line items in the statement of financial position if doing so is necessary to provide a useful structured summary of the entity’s assets, liabilities and equity. An entity uses its judgement to make this determination (including whether it is necessary to disaggregate the line items listed in paragraph 103). Paragraph 41 requires the entity to base its judgements on an assessment of whether the items have characteristics that are shared (similar characteristics) or characteristics that are not shared (dissimilar characteristics). For additional line items for assets and liabilities, an entity bases its judgements on an assessment of the nature or function of the assets or liabilities. The characteristics listed in paragraphs B110(c)–(k) might assist an entity in identifying the nature or function of assets and liabilities.

Paragraphs 20 and 41(d) require an entity to disaggregate items to disclose material information in the notes. An entity uses its judgement to do this based on an assessment of whether the items have characteristics that are shared (similar characteristics) or characteristics that are not shared (dissimilar characteristics). Such characteristics include: 

Assets, liabilities and items of equity that might have sufficiently dissimilar characteristics that presentation in the statement of financial position is necessary to provide a useful structured summary or disclosure in the notes is necessary to provide material information include: 

Paragraph 114 requires an entity to present notes in a systematic manner, so far as is practicable. Examples of systematic ordering or grouping of the notes include: 

Paragraph 117 defines management-defined performance measures. An entity might have no management-defined performance measures, one management-defined performance measure or more than one. For example, an entity that publicly communicates its financial performance to users of financial statements using only totals and subtotals required to be presented or disclosed by Australian Accounting Standards does not have a management-defined performance measure.

To meet the definition of a management-defined performance measure, the measure must communicate to users of financial statements management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole. For example, if a subtotal of income and expenses that relates to a reportable segment disclosed in accordance with AASB 8 does not provide information about an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole, that subtotal cannot meet the definition of a management-defined performance measure.

However, sometimes a subtotal of income and expenses that relates to a reportable segment could provide information about an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole. For example, if a reportable segment contains a single main business activity of the entity and a subtotal of income and expenses relating to that segment is presented in the statement of profit or loss, that would indicate that the subtotal provides information about an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole. In such cases, a subtotal of income and expenses related to that reportable segment would meet the definition of a management-defined performance measure if it met the other parts of the definition of a management-defined performance measure.

A management-defined performance measure is a subtotal of income and expenses. Examples of measures that are not management-defined performance measures because they are not subtotals of income and expenses include: 

A financial ratio is not a management-defined performance measure because it is not a subtotal of income and expenses. However, a subtotal that is the numerator or denominator in a financial ratio is a management-defined performance measure if the subtotal would meet the definition of a management-defined performance measure if it were not part of a ratio. Accordingly, an entity shall apply the disclosure requirements in paragraphs 121–125 to such a numerator or denominator.

A subtotal of income and expenses that meets the definition of a management-defined performance measure in paragraph 117 is a management-defined performance measure whether or not it is presented in the statement of profit or loss.

A subtotal meets the definition of a management-defined performance measure only if an entity uses it in public communications outside its financial statements. Public communications include management commentary, press releases and investor presentations. For the purpose of defining management-defined performance measures, public communications exclude oral communications, written transcripts of oral communications and social media posts.

Management-defined performance measures relate to the same reporting period as the financial statements. Specifically, a subtotal: 

An entity shall consider only public communications related to the reporting period to identify management-defined performance measures for the reporting period, unless as part of its financial reporting process it routinely issues such public communications after the date of issue of its financial statements. If that is the case, an entity shall consider public communications related to the previous reporting period to identify management-defined performance measures for the current reporting period.

However, a measure used in the public communications related to the previous reporting period is not required to be identified as a management-defined performance measure for the current reporting period if there is evidence that indicates it will not be included in the public communications to be issued relating to the current reporting period. If such a measure had been disclosed as a management-defined performance measure in the previous reporting period and is not identified as such for the current reporting period, that would be a change to, or a cessation of, a management-defined performance measure to which the disclosure requirements in paragraph 124 apply.

In accordance with paragraph 118(a), subtotals similar to gross profit are not management-defined performance measures. A subtotal is similar to gross profit when it depicts the difference between a type of revenue and directly related expenses incurred in generating that revenue. Examples include: 

Paragraph 119 states that a subtotal of income and expenses used in public communications outside its financial statements is presumed to communicate to users of financial statements management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole. Applying paragraph 120, an entity is permitted to rebut that presumption if it has reasonable and supportable information available that demonstrates that: 

Examples of reasonable and supportable information that demonstrate that a subtotal does not communicate to users of financial statements management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of an entity as a whole are: 

Whether an entity communicates a subtotal without prominence is a matter of judgement based on a number of factors, for example: 

Management’s use of a subtotal to assess or monitor an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole demonstrates that the subtotal communicates management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole. However, if management uses a subtotal internally but not in an entity’s public communications, the subtotal does not meet the definition of a management-defined performance measure.

An entity might adjust a subtotal communicated in its public communications for use internally by management to assess or monitor the entity’s financial performance. In such cases, the entity shall use its judgement to assess whether the subtotal it uses internally is sufficiently similar to the subtotal it uses in its public communications so that paragraph B127 applies. The more similar the subtotals are, the more likely it is that the subtotal used in the entity’s public communications communicates to users of financial statements management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole.

Examples of reasonable and supportable information that demonstrates an entity has a reason for using a subtotal in its public communications other than to communicate to users of its financial statements management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole are that the subtotal: 

Paragraph 120 applies to a subtotal and not to individual items of income and expense that comprise the subtotal. Accordingly, an entity cannot assert that a subtotal does not communicate management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole based on information that demonstrates that an individual item (or items) of income or expense within the subtotal does not represent such a view.

An entity might change its use of a subtotal to communicate to users of its financial statements management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole. As a result a subtotal might become, or cease to be, a management-defined performance measure. Judgement is required to identify whether a measure not originally identified as a management-defined performance measure has become one, or whether a measure previously identified as a management-defined performance measure has ceased to be one. For example, an entity might be required by a regulator to report a particular subtotal that, when first used, does not communicate management’s view of an aspect of the financial performance of the entity as a whole. Over time the process of producing the subtotal might lead to management using the measure internally to assess and monitor the entity’s financial performance or expanding the commentary and explanations in public communications beyond the regulatory requirements, with the result that the measure meets the definition of a management-defined performance measure.

Paragraph 122 requires an entity to include in a single note all information about management-defined performance measures required by paragraphs 121–125. If an entity also discloses other information in that note, the information in the note shall be labelled in a way that clearly distinguishes the information required by paragraphs 121–125 from the other information.

For example, if an entity applies AASB 8 and the reportable segment information includes a management-defined performance measure, the entity may disclose the required information about the management-defined performance measure in the same note as other reportable segment information, provided the entity either: 

Paragraph 123 requires an entity to label and describe its management-defined performance measures in a clear and understandable manner that does not mislead users of financial statements. To provide such a description, an entity shall disclose information that enables a user of financial statements to understand the items of income or expense included and excluded from the subtotal. Therefore, an entity shall: 

To label and describe the measure in a way that faithfully represents its characteristics, an entity shall: 

Paragraph 123(c) requires an entity to reconcile each management-defined performance measure to the most directly comparable subtotal listed in paragraph 118 or total or subtotal specifically required to be presented or disclosed by Australian Accounting Standards. For example, an entity that discloses in the notes a management-defined performance measure of adjusted operating profit or loss shall reconcile that measure to operating profit or loss. In aggregating or disaggregating the reconciling items disclosed, an entity shall apply the requirements in paragraphs 41–43.

For each reconciling item, an entity shall disclose: 

The description required in paragraph B137(b) is required if there is more than one reconciling item and each item is calculated using a different method or contributes to providing useful information in a different way. For example, an entity might exclude from a management-defined performance measure several items of expense, some because they were identified as outside management’s control and others because they were identified as non-recurring. In such cases, disclosure of which items contributed to which type of adjustment would be required to explain how the management-defined performance measure provides useful information.

A single explanation might apply to more than one item or might apply to all reconciling items collectively. For example, an entity might exclude several items of income or expense in calculating a management-defined performance measure based on an entity-specific application of ‘non-recurring’. In such a case, a single explanation that includes the entity’s definition of ‘non-recurring’ that applies to all reconciling items might satisfy the requirement in paragraph B137(b).

Applying paragraph 123(c), an entity is permitted to reconcile a management-defined performance measure to a total or subtotal that is not presented in the statement(s) of financial performance. In such cases, an entity: 

An entity is required by paragraph 123(d) to disclose the income tax effect for each item disclosed in the reconciliation between a management-defined performance measure and the most directly comparable subtotal listed in paragraph 118 or total or subtotal specifically required to be presented or disclosed by Australian Accounting Standards. An entity shall determine the income tax effect required by paragraph 123(d) by calculating the income tax effects of the underlying transaction(s): 

If, applying paragraph B141, an entity uses more than one method to calculate the income tax effects of reconciling items, it shall disclose how it determined the tax effects for each reconciling item.

An entity shall apply this Standard for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027. Earlier application is permitted. If an entity applies this Standard for an earlier period, it shall disclose that fact in the notes.

An entity shall apply this Standard retrospectively applying AASB 108. However, an entity is not required to present the quantitative information specified in paragraph 28(f) of AASB 108.

In its annual financial statements an entity shall disclose, for the comparative period immediately preceding the period in which this Standard is first applied, a reconciliation for each line item in the statement of profit or loss between: 

If an entity applies AASB 134 in preparing condensed interim financial statements in the first year of applying this Standard, the entity shall present in the condensed interim financial statements each heading it expects to use in applying the Standard and the subtotals required by paragraphs 69–74 of this Standard, despite the requirements in paragraph 10 of AASB 134. An entity shall not apply the requirements in paragraph 10 of AASB 134 for headings and subtotals in condensed interim financial statements until it has issued its first set of annual financial statements prepared in accordance with this Standard.

If an entity applies AASB 134 in preparing interim financial statements in the first year of applying this Standard, the entity shall, as part of the information required by paragraph 16A(a) of AASB 134, disclose reconciliations for each line item presented in the statement of profit or loss for the comparative periods immediately preceding the current and cumulative current periods. The reconciliations are required between: 

An entity is permitted, but not required, to disclose the reconciliations described in paragraphs C3 and C5 for the current period or earlier comparative periods.

At the date of initial application of this Standard, an entity eligible to apply paragraph 18 of AASB 128 is permitted to change its election for measuring an investment in an associate or joint venture from the equity method to fair value through profit or loss in accordance with AASB 9. If an entity makes such a change, the entity shall apply the change retrospectively applying AASB 108. An entity applying paragraph 11 of AASB 127 shall make the same change in its separate financial statements.

[Deleted by the AASB]

This Standard supersedes IAS 1.