Business preparation guide · 29 October 2026
How should a business plan an IFRS reporting project?
Use this guide to prepare a focused business enquiry and agree a useful professional engagement. It covers information gathering and project planning. Entity-specific tax, legal and accounting conclusions require qualified review of the facts and current requirements.
What should an IFRS reporting project start with?
Identify the intended users of the financial statements, reporting period and required framework. Gather the existing accounts, policies and material contracts. Ask for an initial assessment of information gaps and accounting questions before agreeing the detailed timetable.
Which accounting policies should management provide for review?
Provide the policies currently used and explain areas involving estimates, judgments or unusual transactions. Include supporting calculations and approval history. The adviser can then identify which policies need technical assessment under the applicable reporting requirements.
How can management track IFRS reporting adjustments?
Maintain an adjustment schedule linking each item to the source record, explanation, working paper and management approval. Separate proposed entries from accepted entries. Agree who updates the ledger and how the final financial statements will be reconciled.
What should an IFRS reporting handover contain?
Ask for the agreed financial statement outputs, supporting schedules, policy decisions and unresolved matters. Confirm responsibilities for future periods. A reporting support engagement should clearly distinguish preparation assistance from an independent audit or assurance conclusion.
Turn the discussion into an agreed scope
Write down the objective, the entity and period involved, the information already available and the decisions still needed. Ask the proposed engagement team to identify the next information request and the person responsible for each response. Keep technical assumptions separate from verified facts.
Before work starts, confirm the deliverables, review process, fees and exclusions in writing. Ask how additional work will be approved and how confidential documents will be exchanged. This preparation supports an informed proposal; it does not determine the business’s legal or tax position.
Authoritative reference
Consult the relevant authority or reporting-standard source for current requirements. This guide provides preparation steps and does not reproduce the authority’s full rules.
Prepared by DSB Chartered Accountants. Technical positions, calculations, thresholds and filing decisions should be reviewed by the appointed professional for the relevant period.
Discuss the scope with our IFRS financial reporting team.