IFRS 18 and Software Filing: Make It One Transition
From 2027, IFRS 18 changes how your accounts are presented. From April 2028, they must be filed at Companies House through software. Make the year you adopt software your year of transition to IFRS 18, and do the work once, with people who know ONESOURCE Statutory Reporting from the inside.
Two changes, one set of accounts
IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements replaces IAS 1 for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, and was adopted for use in the UK in December 2025. Recognition and measurement are unchanged. The change is to presentation, across the primary statements and the notes:
- Income statement. Income and expenses fall into five categories (operating, investing, financing, income tax and discontinued operations), and two new subtotals become required: operating profit, and profit before financing and income taxes.
- Balance sheet. Goodwill becomes a line of its own, and new principles decide what is grouped together and what is shown separately.
- Cash flow statement. The indirect method starts from operating profit, and interest and dividends get fixed homes.
- Notes. Management-defined performance measures move into a single note, and some items are broken down further, including certain expenses by nature where expenses are presented by function.
Separately, from 1 April 2028, accounts filed at Companies House must be filed through commercial software in iXBRL, and the web and paper routes for accounts close.
For a December year end, the two meet. The first IFRS 18 accounts, for the year ending 31 December 2027, are due at Companies House by 30 June 2028 for a public company and 30 September 2028 for a private one: after the software rule has started. Unless you file within three months of the year end, your first accounts filed through software will be your first IFRS 18 accounts too.
FRS 101 subsidiaries depend on their format. Those presenting on adapted, IAS-style formats take on the IFRS 18 presentation. Those keeping the Companies Act formats keep their profit and loss account and balance sheet, because FRS 101 says those formats apply instead. For a group with many UK subsidiaries, the first job is knowing which format each one uses. What none of them escape is the 2028 filing change.
Do the work twice, or do it once
By hand now, in software later
Restate 2026 in Word and Excel, build the new layouts and the transition note by hand for every entity, then rebuild all of it in software a year later for the 2028 filing.
In software, from the start
Choose software that brings IFRS 18 with it. The new layouts, the comparatives and the transition note come from the template, and your first accounts filed through software are your first IFRS 18 accounts.
Changing standard? A good time to change how your accounts are produced.
The "once" route, in ONESOURCE Statutory Reporting
Thomson Reuters' September 2026 release of the UK IFRS template brings IFRS 18 in behind one switch, and a period starting in 2027 picks it up by itself. The income statement gains investing income and profit before financing and tax, goodwill moves to its own line, the cash flow statement starts from operating profit, and the transition note reconciles last year's income statement from the trial balance you already hold. Both versions of the comparative year come from the same figures.
2028 is closer than the calendar suggests
- Your comparative year is already running. For a December year end, the first IFRS 18 accounts restate 2026, the year you are closing now.
- Procurement takes longest. On the ONESOURCE Statutory Reporting projects we have run, getting started has usually taken longer than expected because of it.
- Each template takes time to get right. As a high-level guide, allow around eight weeks per template, from kick-off to delivery.
- Experienced implementers will be in demand. Every UK group is working to the same filing deadline, so demand for statutory reporting implementers is likely to peak as 2028 approaches.
We'll work back from your first software filing with you, in a 30-minute call.
Book a 30-minute callImplemented by people who know ONESOURCE from the inside
We know how the software is built
Mark spent 11 years at Thomson Reuters, latterly as Director of Solution Consulting, overseeing the consulting team for the ONESOURCE platform, Statutory Reporting included. We know how the templates are built, and how to make them work for your group.
We have sat where you sit
Charlotte is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser with over two decades in senior tax and finance roles, most recently Head of Tax at a large UK headquartered multinational. She knows what it takes to own the accounts, satisfy the auditors and justify an investment to the board.
We have already worked through the IFRS 18 release
We have built Thomson Reuters' September 2026 IFRS 18 template with test figures, statement by statement, so we know what it does, and where to look, before your project starts.
Senior people, start to finish
A certified implementer works on every implementation, and you work directly with Mark and Charlotte throughout, with no handoffs to junior consultants. Support after go-live comes from the people who built it.
One project, both changes
Scope
Your entities, GAAPs and formats, and the date of your first software filing, with a plan worked back from it.
Build
Your template starts on the release that carries IFRS 18. We map your chart of accounts to it, applying the decisions your group and its auditors have made, and for larger groups automate trial balance loading with Alteryx.
Prove
Comparatives produced as standard, the reconciliation to the previous presentation drawn from the trial balance, and a parallel run on real figures before your first IFRS 18 year end.
File and support
Accounts tagged in iXBRL and ready to file at Companies House and HMRC, with hyper-care after go-live and support from the team that built it.
Questions worth asking of any statutory accounts software
- Does it have IFRS 18 layouts for the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow, alongside the IAS 1 versions you need for the comparative year?
- Does it draw the transition reconciliation from the trial balance, or does someone have to key it?
- Does it handle FRS 101 presentation in both adapted and Companies Act formats?
- Does it tag the accounts in iXBRL, and file to Companies House and HMRC from the same output?
- Does one template cover every entity on the same GAAP, so a decision made once applies everywhere?
Companies House 2028 Readiness Checklist
Ten checks that work back from your first software filing: which of your accounts are caught first, what a compliant filing route looks like, and how ready your group is today. Free, and yours in a click.
Frequently asked questions
When does IFRS 18 take effect?
The IASB's effective date is annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, and IFRS 18 was adopted for use in the UK in December 2025. How and when it applies to your group is one for your auditors or advisers.
How does IFRS 18 relate to the 2028 Companies House changes?
In practice, they land on the same accounts. IFRS 18 applies to years beginning on or after 1 January 2027, so the earliest IFRS 18 year end is 31 December 2027. Those accounts are due at Companies House by 30 June 2028 for a public company or 30 September 2028 for a private one, and accounts filed on or after 1 April 2028 must go through commercial software in iXBRL. The only exceptions are a company that adopts IFRS 18 early, or one that files its December 2027 accounts within three months of the year end. Our page on the 2028 Companies House changes covers the filing side.
We produce our accounts in Word and Excel. Why change now?
Because from April 2028 the filing has to come from software anyway. Making the move to software your transition to IFRS 18 means the new presentation is built once, in the software's template, rather than in Word and Excel first and then again in software a year later.
How long does it take?
As a high-level guide, allow around eight weeks per template, from kick-off to template delivery, varying with the number of entities and jurisdictions. In our experience procurement is usually the slowest part, so it pays to start well before your first IFRS 18 year end.
What does the software do for IFRS 18?
In ONESOURCE Statutory Reporting, IFRS 18 comes in through Thomson Reuters' template releases, starting with the UK IFRS template released in September 2026. The IFRS 18 layouts sit behind one switch, comparatives are produced as standard from the same trial balance, and the transition note's reconciliation is drawn from the figures rather than keyed.
Does the software handle FRS 101 subsidiaries?
Yes. The FRS 101 report supports both IAS-style and Companies Act formats, and brings in the IFRS 18 layouts where the IAS-style presentation is used. Which format each subsidiary uses is a decision for the group and its auditors.
Who will we work with?
Mark and Charlotte, directly, from scoping to go-live and beyond. Osprey Consulting is an authorised Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE implementation partner and a ONESOURCE Statutory Reporting Certified Implementer, and a certified implementer works on every implementation.
We already use ONESOURCE Statutory Reporting. What do we need to do?
IFRS 18 arrives through Thomson Reuters' template releases. Where a client template has been changed locally, the release needs bringing in with care so those changes are kept, and we're happy to help.
Will Osprey tell us how to apply IFRS 18?
No. We're technology implementers, not accounting advisers. How IFRS 18 applies to your group is for you and your auditors to determine. Once those decisions are made, we build them into your mapping and templates, and make sure every entity follows them.
Osprey Consulting are technology implementers, not accounting advisers. For how IFRS 18 applies to your group, speak to your auditors or advisers.
Talk to the people who will do the work
In 30 minutes we'll look at your entities, the formats they use and the date of your first software filing, and give you a realistic plan worked back from it. No obligation, and you'll speak to Mark or Charlotte directly.
Next: the 2028 Companies House changes, and ONESOURCE Statutory Reporting implementation, the service that gets a group ready for both.