An international committee has unveiled a draft framework for combining financial reporting with other aspects of an organization’s performance, including the environmental and social context.
The International Integrated Reporting Committee was formed last year by The Prince of Wales’ Accounting for Sustainability Project, the Global Reporting Initiative and the International Federation of Accountants (see
Integrated reporting demonstrates the linkages between an organization’s strategy, governance and financial performance and the social, environmental and economic context within which it operates. By reinforcing these connections, integrated reporting can help business to take more sustainable decisions and enable investors and other stakeholders to understand how an organization is really performing.
A copy of the IIRC discussion paper, “Towards Integrated Reporting: Communicating Value in the 21st Century,” is available at
The American Institute of CPAs said it supports efforts to develop clearer, more consistent, globally accepted accounting and reporting standards, and encourages members to provide input on the IIRC draft document over the next three months. The committee and the AICPA hosted a roundtable discussion on integrated reporting in June at Bloomberg L.P.’s offices in New York, and they plan to co-host another session in Palo Alto, Calif., this November.
“Many public companies and other organizations already compile this information in separate reports,” said AICPA senior vice president of public practice and global alliances Sue Coffey in a statement. “Pulling it together in a concise, interconnected way will provide value and transparency for investors assessing an organization’s strategy and performance. It also will help the organization to sustain its value over the long term.”
The comment period on the discussion paper will be open through Dec. 14, 2011.
