Glossary›Connection to the financial statements›Comparative information (first year exemption)
Glossary term
Cluster F · F5
Tier 1 · differentiator
Comparative information (first year exemption)
Definition
Comparative information is the prior-year figure shown beside each current-year figure. AASB S2 Appendix C provides relief from presenting comparatives in an entity’s first annual reporting period applying the standard. From the second year comparatives are required, which means year one’s figures reappear and are exposed to a second round of scrutiny.
AASB S2 Appendix C
· first-year transition relief · relief expires after the first annual reporting period
On this page
In practice
The relief is genuinely useful in year one and it creates a specific and predictable problem in year two, which is why it belongs on the CFO’s radar in year one.
The year-two sequence is consistent. Comparatives are added, so year one’s numbers are published a second time. Year two’s data is better, because meters, supplier responses and processes have improved. The two years are therefore not built on the same basis, and the difference between them is partly a real movement and partly a change in data quality. Separating those two effects, and disclosing the split, is a year-two disclosure requirement in substance even where it is not one in form.
The planning point for a first-time reporter is that a weak year-one number is not a one-year problem. It is published twice, it sets the trend, and it may need restating.
What the assurer does with it
In year two the assurer considers the comparatives as part of the sustainability report. Under ASSA 5010, from the second reporting year limited assurance extends to all disclosures in the report. Where year one was assured, the assurer will want to understand any change to the comparative figures since it was published. Where a comparative has changed, that is a restatement and it carries its own disclosure requirement.
Commonly confused with
The Scope 3 first-year relief, which is a separate Appendix C provision covering a different thing. An entity can take both in year one, and both fall away together.
Timing and relief
Confirmed 15 September 2026: AASB S2 Appendix C paragraph C3 provides the relief from presenting comparative information in the first annual reporting period in which the entity applies the standard. The relief is available once and it falls away at the end of that period; from the second annual reporting period comparatives are required.
ASSA 5010 paragraph 11(a) runs the same way for assurance, providing that comparative information not required to be, and not, assured for the previous year is not required to be assured in the current year.
Sources
1
2
ASSA 5010 Timeline for Audits and Reviews of Information in Sustainability Reports under the Corporations Act 2001
AUASB
3
4
5
Review status
Review required
Last reviewed
15 September 2026
Editorial pass, unsigned
Reviewer required
Registered company auditor with financial reporting expertise
Next scheduled review
30 June 2027
end of the first annual reporting period for entities whose first AASB S2 year began 1 July 2026
Part of
Cluster F, Connection to the financial statements
6 terms on where the sustainability report meets the audited accounts. Small cluster, high consequence: this is where both assurers cross-check each other’s work.
Related terms
What a changed comparative becomes once the relief has fallen away
The wider set of first-year reliefs this one sits inside
The reference year the comparative trend is measured against
Related questions
Do we need comparatives in our first report?
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No. AASB S2 relieves first-time reporters from disclosing comparative information in their first annual reporting period, and comparatives are required from year two. That means your year-one numbers and working papers will be looked at again, so build the year-one file as if it will be re-examined.
What happens if we have to restate last year’s emissions?
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You restate the comparative and disclose what changed, why, and the effect. Restatement is expected as data improves and is not treated as a failure. What the assurance practitioner tests is whether you have a written policy setting out when you restate, and whether you applied it consistently.
What will our auditor actually ask for?
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In year one they ask for evidence behind the disclosures that are actually assured: Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, your governance disclosures, and the specified strategy paragraphs on climate risks and opportunities. In practice that means source documents, a calculation they can rebuild from those documents, and minutes showing the governance you described actually happened.
Where this sits commercially
The relief is useful in year one and creates a predictable year-two problem. This page states the sequence so a CFO can plan for it in year one.
Other terms in this cluster
Comparative information (first year exemption)