Top officials from the International Integrated Reporting Council, the Institute of Management Accountants and the International Federation of Accountants met in New York to discuss what steps they can take to enhance integrated reporting to provide better information on sustainability and other non-financial matters.
“IMA is pleased to be a leader in transforming corporate reporting around the world to better develop, deliver and communicate value creation capacity and capability over time,” said IMA President and CEO Jeff Thomson at an event Thursday evening following the meeting. “We were early adopters of the balanced scorecard and strategy map nearly three decades ago. It is all about an integrated approach to strategy formulation, strategy execution and strategy communication, both internally and externally.”
He noted that the world’s two largest economies, the U.S. and China, are priority markets for the IIRC, pointing to
“I would commend the Conference Board report to all of you,” agreed IIRC interim CEO Charles Tilley. “It’s a great way of describing what integrated reporting is.”
IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey sees great demand for integrated reporting. “I think the call to action for the IIRC is to take this on,” he said. “It’s important to get this right. There’s been a huge demand by the investors and all the other stakeholders.”
Sara DeSmith, a partner and U.S. sustainability services leader at PwC is seeing greater momentum for integrated reporting this year in corporate America and among standard-setters and rating agencies, as well as the Big Four. “Our focus has been to help our clients figure out this brave new world of non-financial reporting and communicating with clarity and confidence to the capital markets,” she said. “I’ve never been more optimistic about long-term value creation.” She pointed to the recent statement by the Conference Board about the purpose of corporate America being responsible not only to shareholders but also to employees and communities. “That’s all really positive momentum to creating value,” she added.
To address the future of corporate reporting, and the role accountants can play in it, the International Federation of Accountants published a
IFAC also posted an