Income Statement Changes Adopted for 2027 After Years of Debate

Global rulemakers voted unanimously on Wedneday to make radical changes to income statement accounting, 20 years after updates were first suggested.

All 14 members of the International Accounting Standards Board agreed that technical work on the new rules was complete. The rules will be published next year but not enter force until 2027 so companies have sufficient time to prepare.

“It has been a tough debate,” IASB chair Andreas Barckow said at the meeting.

The project, dubbed Primary Financial Statements, was launched in 2016 following investor feedback showing that rejigging the income statement was a priority. ...