IFRS 19 – New standard offers mitigation for the notes

This is mainly due to the limited application scope. IFRS 19 is only applicable by subsidiaries without “public accountability” (esp. no capital market oriented entities) with a parent that provides consolidated financial statements according to IFRS. Such entities can voluntarily apply IFRS 19 for their IFRS financial statements, if they prepare such a set in the first place. 

Even the limited group of entities that may apply IFRS 19 is not obliged to do so. The voluntary application, however, can be beneficial. IFRS 19 enables to provide only the reduced catalogue of mandatory information required by IFRS 19 in the notes instead of the full information to be presented in the notes as required by the other IAS/IFRS. Thus, IFRS 19 provides an attractive offer to facilitate the preparation of the notes. Due to its limited application scope, however, this cannot be used by many entities. 

The official date of initial application of IFRS 19 is January 1st, 2027, but the standard may be applied earlier and, thus, theoretically with immediate effect. However, IFRS 19’s endorsement by the EU is still pending.