Integrated Reporting - Step 2: Company Websites

The Internet is widely acknowledged as a key medium for communicating with investors and other stakeholders, such as customers and job seekers. They have become accustomed to using company websites to obtain the information they need for their particular purposes. The usefulness of company websites is determined by the information content, which users should find unambiguous, timely and relevant. The 2008 CICA research study on Corporate Reporting to Stakeholders (see Chapter 12) discusses the future of the online annual report and the information content that company websites should contain. It also considers how companies could make better use of existing and emerging technologies to enhance corporate communications as they shift to a new paradigm — real-time online reporting. Currently, the CICA is undertaking research to promote effective communication by "Using the Internet in Corporate Reporting." The booklet "Practical Guidance for Managing Websites" is available as a discussion draft on the CICA website.

Integrated Reporting - Preparing a Summary Annual Report

Regulatory and standard-setting bodies are constantly “improving” the rules to protect the interests of investors and to make sure they have good information for decision making. As a result, disclosure requirements increase and information disclosures become more complex. One way to address complexity and information overload is to prepare a summary annual report. For an excellent example, read the PotashCorp 2009 Summary Accountability Report and view the PotashCorp 2009 Online Annual Report and PotashCorp 2009 Online Sustainability Report using keywords.

Integrated Reporting - Step 1: Summary Annual Reports

The 2008 CICA research study on Corporate Reporting to Stakeholders discusses ways to enhance corporate communications (see Chapter 10). It reviews the literature on information overload, complexity in standards and regulations, and summary annual reporting (see Chapter 11). The study also surveys current practice and trends, particularly essential information disclosures to stakeholders. It then debates how summary annual reports might help resolve future challenges for integrated corporate reporting.

A Framework for Integrated Reporting to Stakeholders

In June 2008, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) published the research study Corporate Reporting to Stakeholders. The primary purpose is to promote effective communication by providing helpful guidance on how to achieve comprehensive and integrated corporate reporting. A secondary purpose is to suggest how useful information can best be communicated. With stakeholder information needs in mind, the study assesses what corporate reporting disclosures are relevant to decision-making. A review of the literature combined with a survey of current practice helped identify more than 50 different types of information, each classified by category — Corporate Overview, Corporate Social Responsibilities, Review of Operations, Financial Summary and Analysis, and Supplementary Information. They provide a framework for integrated corporate reporting to stakeholders.

International Integrated Reporting Committee

A new international committee formed by the Prince of Wales’ Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) will work to integrate the way companies report on strategy, risk, governance, financial performance and sustainability. The International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) includes high-profile members such as the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the Big Four public accounting firms and some of the world’s largest institutional investors and governance organizations. It is the result of a decision made in December 2009 at a meeting of more than 20 organizations to form a committee that would oversee development of an integrated reporting model. (For more information, read the Press Release and visit the Integrated Reporting Committee Website.)