The
International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) made public an
approved framework for integrated reporting. The group intends for the
framework to guide companies on how to best communicate with their stakeholders.
The release of the framework—available at tinyurl.com/ochqrqg—represents a key step forward for integrated reporting.
The aim of integrated reporting is to enhance the relevance of information available to providers of financial capital to enable a more efficient and productive allocation of capital. “Its focus on value creation, and the ‘capitals’ used by the business to create value over time, contributes towards a more financially stable global economy and is a force for sustainability,” the IIRC said in a news release.
An integrated report is a concise communication about how an organization’s strategy, governance, performance, and prospects, in the context of its external environment, lead to the creation of value in the short, medium, and long term.
Among the fundamental concepts of integrated reporting are six types of capital: financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural. The purpose of the capitals, the IIRC says, is to encourage businesses to think more broadly and to consider all potential sources of value when explaining value creation.
The framework was developed with global input—more than 350 responses globally came from businesses, accounting bodies, investors, and others after the consultation draft (which is available at tinyurl.com/cccpjq5) was made public in April. The framework is meant for private-sector businesses but can be applied to public companies as well as not-for-profit entities.
Finance executives’ optimism about the U.S. economy cooled in late
2013, but the executives were more bullish about the near-term
prospects of their own businesses.
CPA decision-makers are increasingly positive about their own
businesses’ revenue and profit, especially when compared with a year
ago. That sunny view offsets a slide in the retail sector and
lingering concerns about regulatory requirements and gridlock in
Washington in the fourth-quarter AICPA Business & Industry
Economic Outlook Survey, which is available at tinyurl.com/3px6u9l.
