Comparative InformationComparative Information

Comparative Information

36. Except when an Australian Accounting Standard permits or requires otherwise, comparative information shall be disclosed in respect of the previous period for all amounts reported in the financial report. Comparative information shall be included for narrative and descriptive information when it is relevant to an understanding of the current period’s financial report.

37. In some cases, narrative information provided in the financial report for the previous period(s) continues to be relevant in the current period. For example, details of a legal dispute, the outcome of which was uncertain at the last reporting date and is yet to be resolved, are disclosed in the current period. Users benefit from information that the uncertainty existed at the last reporting date, and about the steps that have been taken during the period to resolve the uncertainty.

38. When the presentation or classification of items in the financial report is amended, comparative amounts shall be reclassified unless the reclassification is impracticable. When comparative amounts are reclassified, an entity shall disclose:

(a) the nature of the reclassification;

(b) the amount of each item or class of items that is reclassified; and

(c) the reason for the reclassification.

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

(a) the reason for not reclassifying the amounts; and

(b) the nature of the adjustments that would have been made if the amounts had been reclassified.

40. Enhancing the inter-period comparability of information assists users in making economic decisions, especially by allowing the assessment of trends in financial information for predictive purposes. In some circumstances, it is impracticable to reclassify comparative information for a particular prior period to achieve comparability with the current period. For example, data may not have been collected in the prior period(s) in a way that allows reclassification, and it may not be practicable to recreate the information.

41. AASB 108 deals with the adjustments to comparative information required when an entity changes an accounting policy or corrects an error.