The International Federation of Accountants’ Professional Accountants in Business Committee has significantly updated its
The framework highlights the important roles that professional accountants play in facilitating the sustainable development of their organizations, as well as the importance of adopting an integrated approach to business reporting.
Embracing sustainability and corporate responsibility from three perspectives—strategy, operations, and reporting—is critical to gaining the trust of stakeholders and the wider public, and ultimately ensuring sustainable value creation. Through key considerations, as well as examples from major international corporations, smaller firms, professional accountancy organizations, and leaders from around the world, the framework provides a comprehensive view of some of the current best practices globally in each of these areas, and is applicable to entities of all sizes and levels of complexity.
“Professional accountants are already doing much to help organizations minimize waste, create efficiencies, and cut costs, which is undoubtedly the biggest driver for embracing sustainability,” said PAIB Committee chair Roger Tabor in a statement. “However, accountants also need to be prepared to take on new and expanded roles, activities, and skills as they support their organizations in charting a more sustainable path. The framework can help them on this journey.”
Presented in a digital magazine format, and available in PDF, the framework contains numerous internal links to allow professional accountants to navigate to the sections of most relevance to their particular roles. All the sections include key considerations for professional accountants, including examples and references to other sources of information and guidance.
“To successfully embed sustainability within an organization, business leaders and professional accountants must recognize the importance of incorporating environmental, social, and governance factors into all functions and processes—from strategic planning and goal setting, to external communications and reporting,” said IFAC CEO Ian Ball. “Wach of these areas is interconnected: to produce high-quality sustainability and integrated reports, these factors must be embedded into an organization’s culture and decision making.”
The Sustainability Framework is available in the
