Utilities See New Global Accounting Rules Aimed at Consistency

Utilities and other rate-regulated companies can recoup infrastructure and other big expenses in their accounts over the period when they are incurred, rather than waiting for regulators to allow them to raise prices, under a new international accounting standard.

The International Accounting Standards Board published IFRS 20 to cover what companies can charge for water, electricity, and other services where prices are set by regulators. The standard—more than a dozen years in the making—resolves a timing gap for such operations, in which companies can incur large up-front costs to maintain their systems but are unable to pass them on to ...