IFRS

The accounting standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and required for listed companies in more than 140 jurisdictions, including the European Union, the United Kingdom and Australia. India's Ind AS is built on them; the United States is the main market that is not.

For an analyst the practical point is comparability. Two IFRS filers in different countries apply the same rules on revenue, leases and financial instruments, so their statements can be laid side by side once the policy notes have been read. A foreign company listed in the US may file IFRS accounts with the SEC without reconciling them to US GAAP, so some American listings carry IFRS numbers.

The standards keep moving. IFRS 18, effective from 2027, replaces the old presentation standard. It adds defined operating and financing subtotals to the income statement and removes the choice of where most companies put interest in the cash flow statement. A ratio series that runs across the change may need restating.

Note the year the format changed.