IFRS

IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) is the accounting framework used by most jurisdictions outside the United States, including the GCC. IFRS 18, a new income-statement presentation standard, takes effect for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.

What IFRS governs

IFRS is issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and sets how transactions are recognized, measured, presented, and disclosed. It is principles-based: standards state the objective and the criteria, and preparers apply judgment within them. That is the main structural difference from US GAAP, which carries more prescriptive rules and industry-specific guidance. In practice the two frameworks reach similar answers on most routine transactions and diverge on specific topics such as development cost capitalization, inventory cost methods, and impairment reversal.

Individual standards do the heavy lifting: IFRS 15 for revenue recognition, IFRS 16 for leases, IFRS 9 for financial instruments, IFRS 10 for consolidation. Jurisdictions adopt IFRS with local variations, so “IFRS” in a filing usually means IFRS as endorsed by that jurisdiction.

What IFRS 18 changes

IFRS 18 replaces IAS 1 for presentation of financial statements. Its main effect is on the income statement, which gains defined categories and required subtotals, so operating results are presented on a consistent basis rather than in whatever shape a company chose. It also brings management-defined performance measures into the audited statements with disclosure requirements attached, which narrows the gap between a company’s own adjusted metrics and its filed numbers.

For finance teams the work is mapping. Every account has to land in the right category, comparatives have to be restated, and internal reporting that has run for years on a different subtotal structure needs to be reconciled to the new one. The standard changes presentation rather than measurement, so the profit figure does not move; what moves is where things sit above it.

How Rexfin handles it

Rexfin renders statements in IFRS presentation shape by default, including IFRS 18 categorization and subtotals, without breaking the citation chain back to the underlying source. Mapping from the chart of accounts into presentation categories is part of the governed model rather than a spreadsheet step, so the same reconciled actuals support internal reporting and statutory reporting from one place.