What’s coming up in 2026:

direction, delivery and engagement

2026 is well underway and there is already a lot happening in the standard-setting space, domestically and overseas. We have picked up where we left off in 2025 and look forward to engaging with you about our work programme and hearing what is on your mind. If you would like to share your thoughts with us or discuss our work, please get in touch; you don’t need to wait for a scheduled engagement opportunity. Either reach out to someone in the XRB team or use the contact page on our website.

As always, our work programme this year will be shaped by our strategy of staying aligned with international developments while making sure our standards and guidance are relevant for New Zealand entities. We look forward to continuing the conversation throughout the year.

You will be hearing more from us about our strategic projects, including developing a climate reporting roadmap, reviewing our accounting standards framework and the implications of technology for assurance.

• By the end of June, we intend to publish a climate reporting roadmap for consultation and engagement. It will be informed by what we heard in response to last year’s request for information on the international alignment of climate reporting. The roadmap will set out the proposed direction for climate reporting in New Zealand.

• We have started work on our planned review of our tiered and sector-based accounting standards framework. As we indicated in our Statement of Intent 2025-2030 we want to ensure the framework remains fit for purpose. We undertook a targeted, high-level review of the framework in 2019, with the review confirming that it is generally operating as intended and that tiered reporting is ensuring a balance of benefits and costs of reporting. Since the framework was first put in place, much has changed in the international and domestic context and our standards have evolved. As we look towards the future, we want to make sure the framework is effective and meets user needs. We look forward to engaging with you to inform our work on the accounting standards framework review.  

• Technology is changing the way assurance engagements are carried out, creating new opportunities as well as risks that need to be managed. Work is underway to assess whether international auditing standards need to be updated. Non-authoritative material will be developed to support implementation of the quality management standards, to maintain trust and consistency. We are following developments closely and will consult on any proposed revisions to auditing standards.

Several multi-year projects will continue to be a focus of our work this year. As always, we will engage with you early on standards that are under consideration or in development and, once issued, will work with you to support adoption and implementation of these standards.

Our work to support adoption and implementation includes:

• reporting and assurance of service performance information for tier 1 and 2 not-for-profit entities – see below

• the new NZ IFRS 18 presentation and disclosures in financial statements standard, applicable to all for-profit entities for financial periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027

• the international standard for audits of financial statements of less complex entities (ISA (NZ) for LCE) for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2025

• identifying and quantifying anticipated financial impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities

• reporting and assurance of scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions

• He Tauira, a voluntary conceptual reporting framework that supports entities to articulate their intergenerational impact

• post-implementation reviews to explore the benefits and challenges of revisions to standards on auditing accounting estimates, and the ethical requirements for auditors dealing with non-compliance with laws and regulations.

We are working through the feedback we received in response to our consultation on the PBE IPSAS 47 Revenue and PBE IPSAS 48 Transfer expenses exposure drafts and will share what we heard and propose next steps soon. These standards aim to provide clearer guidance for revenue and transfer expense accounting and improve the consistency, comparability and transparency of financial reporting for public benefit entities.

Supporting service performance information reporting

The outreach we undertook last year with our tier 1 and tier 2 not-for-profit entities showed strong support for consistent, high-quality service performance information (SPI), whilst recognising the challenges in preparing and assuring this information. We have looked carefully at how we can best support entities and assurance practitioners deal with these challenges.

We recently issued staff guidance on obtaining audit evidence over SPI, as part of a broader programme of work to improve clarity and consistency in this area. Guidance for preparers and those charged with governance has also been published.

Revised auditing standards on fraud and going concern

At the end of last year we issued two revised auditing standards that enhance the auditor’s responsibilities for fraud and going concern, which are matters of important public interest. The revised standards reflect our strategic priority of ensuring the XRB’s standards are internationally aligned and locally relevant. Guidance will be issued soon to help preparers, governors and auditors get ready for these revisions.

We have now also reissued all of the other ISAs (NZ) to include conforming amendments resulting from the fraud and going concern revisions, minor conforming changes for public interest entities, and other changes.

These standards are all applicable for accounting periods that begin on or after 15 December 2026.

These standards align with best practice guidelines for minimum components for secondary legislation as we work to enhance the accessibility of the secondary legislation we issue. If you have any questions, please contact us at assurance@xrb.govt.nz.

Supporting incorporated societies with new reporting requirements

We continue to provide information and guidance on financial reporting requirements for incorporated societies reregistering under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. The deadline to complete reregistration is 5 April 2026. Once a society has reregistered under the new Act, the new financial reporting requirements will apply to the next set of financial statements prepared after reregistration. For some societies, this will involve changes to how financial statements are prepared and reported.

Through our communications and guidance, we aim to help incorporated societies understand which requirements apply to them, how to apply those requirements in practice, and why clear and consistent financial reporting is important for members, funders, and the wider community.

For more information about these requirements, please visit our dedicated webpage for Incorporated Societies.