A recent Accounting Today article entitled IFAC CEO Choudhury sees accountants making an impact globally, cites Choudhury's explanation of the rationale for integrated reporting:

The public’s trust in institutions—public sector, private sector, media and non-governmental organizations—is really declining...I think financial reporting comes into that discussion, because a lot of stakeholders have become far more concerned about what entities they invest in, or contribute taxation money to, how they are adding value. It’s not all about the bottom line. If that bottom line is earned at the cost of a lot of negative effects overall, is that a good thing or a bad thing? The notion of moving beyond financial reporting to integrated reporting and actually having a systematic discussion of how an entity creates value addition, how it creates wealth, we believe is a very important direction for the future, and we are wholly supportive of the International Integrated Reporting Council’s work.

Read the full article

Here's an early review in the CPA Journal of Mervyn King's new book, Chief Value Officer: Accountants Can Save the Planet, written with Jill Atkins.

The author of the review, Edward Mendlowitz, makes the case that the message of integrated reporting and thinking is relevant to a broad audience:

Accountants are the primary measurers, auditors, and designers of financial reports, and they can change reporting vehicles. There is no doubt of the centrality of the accountant’s role; however, the book limits itself by using accountants as the driving force. It should reach a much wider audience, and with small changes in that regard (and in the title) it could be directed to all corporate directors, CEOs, and CFOs, and professionals engaged by these organizations, as well as legislators and regulators.

Read the review and/or read the book, let us know what you think!

The CPA Insider Newsletter from the Journal of Accountancy just published a new post called: CFOs and sustainability—a growing relationship, How CFOs can engage with their organizations’ sustainability goals by Shilpa Pai Mizar.

The post cites three key reasons for CFO's to engage on sustainability issues:

1. Sustainability risk is business risk
2. Sustainable practices have been shown to save organizations money and create long-term business value
3. Companies are seeing increased interest from investors in sustainability issues.

A recent post on the Forbes Finance Council cites adoption of integrated reporting as the third of Ten Powerful Actions To Restore Public Trust And Confidence In The Global Economy. Author Russell Guthrie, Executive Director External Affairs and CFO at IFAC explains: 

Integrated reporting is one initiative where the profession can go a long way to drive the sustainability agenda. An International Integrated Reporting Framework, founded on integrated organizational thinking, presents an opportunity to produce a clearer corporate reporting system that’s more conducive to financial stability.

In its new article, IIRC Sees Global Progress in Integrated Reporting, Accounting Today used the occasion of the release by the IIRC of its own 2016 Integrated Report to review the state of the movement reporting that 1,500 companies in 62 countries across the globe are now issuing integrated reports. There are roughly 20 companies in the U.S. issuing this type of report.

The article quotes Barry Meloncon, AICPA president and CEO, who is also global chairman of the IIRC, on the role of accountants

“As integrated reporting becomes more common, there are a lot of aspects of integrated reporting that either the profession would be involved with helping people to produce, or potentially in some parts of the world [provide] some attestation on some of the information,” said Melancon.

From the IFAC website:

Integrated reporting enhances the way organizations think, plan, and report their business’ story. It is used as an opportunity to communicate a clear, concise, integrated story explaining how value is created within the organization. It can help businesses think holistically about their strategy and plans, make informed decisions, manage key opportunities and risks to build investor and stakeholder confidence, and help manage the organization’s performance.

This publication from IFAC and the International Integrated Reporting Council will help small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs), including non-profits, adopt integrated reporting and realize its benefits. It will also help users understand the benefits of using the International Integrated Reporting Framework, including the flexibility of its principles-based structure and approach.

Download this new paper on the IFAC website.

Published on Jan 5, 2015

Erin Nahumyk, Director of Accounting Policy and Sarah Nicholls, Head of Global Corporate Sustainability at JLL discuss how Integrated Reporting helps them tell the company’s value creation story, and how implementing Integrated Reporting has helped the connectivity within JLL.

The latest issue of The CPA Journal includes articles based on recent programs on sustainability, integrated thinking and reporting as well as corporate governance. The excerpt provided here by Richard Kravitz features Barry Melancon, president and CEO of the AICPA and chairman of the board of the IIRC and Mervyn King, former chair of the IIRC and one of the early founders of the movement. 

Read the excerpts