For researchers and managers interested in performance measurement, this volume includes innovative research that sheds light on topics such as the determinants of disclosure quality, the identification of appropriate metrics, the relationship among the different disclosure mechanisms and between voluntary and mandatory disclosure, and many more.

The increasingly crucial role of companies’ non-financial disclosure (NFD) and integrated reporting (IR) has led to a lively debate among academics, practitioners, and regulators on the approaches, framework, contents, principles, and standards that should oversee these forms of reporting. Through several expert contributions, conducted both with qualitative and quantitative methodologies, this book provides an up-to-date portrait of the debate by exploring corporate NFD either in its mandated contents or voluntary information. Contributing authors provide studies that encompass the different lines of NFD, namely non-financial risk reporting, sustainability reporting, and intellectual capital reporting, as well as the integration of financial and non-financial information through IR, the assurance of the NFD and IR through auditing activities, and the role of management and CFOs in NFD and IR.

This book critically examines the implementation and adoption of integrated reporting (IR) in organizations and corporations. A relatively new area of policy and practice, IR has rapidly gained considerable prominence since the formation of the International Integrated Reporting Committee in 2010. The book analyzes the outcomes and benefits as well as the shortfalls of integrated reporting. It offers an introduction to the foundations of IR and a comprehensive overview of its use through a number of detailed case studies. Lastly, it discusses the outlook for further developments in sustainability accounting and reporting.

This book investigates the going-concern principle in the non-financial disclosure by companies in the international scenario proposing concepts and challenges to come. Following the main accounting literature, requirements and regulations, this book proposes the current state of the art in the non-financial disclosure, collecting main mandatory and voluntary frameworks and standards (e.g. European Directive 2014/95/UE on non-financial information, Global Reporting Initiative, International Integrated Reporting Council, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, Climate Disclosure Standard Board, Carbon Disclosure Project, AA1000). This is a useful proposition for the investigation of the presence versus absence of the going concern in the sustainability and non-financial reports and disclosure by companies. Through a qualitative methodology, this book is intended to show the incidence of the going-concern in the non-financial disclosure and to what content and meaning it is refereed. Several issues and characteristics of information provided to stakeholders are drafted.

Although the need to expand the boundaries of financial reporting has been discussed since the mid-1990s, little consideration has been given to the evolution and discourses of integrated reporting of non-financial aspects. Yet by investigating how and why an organisation defines and its reporting boundaries, it is possible to understand what is truly "valued" (or not) in its business model. This innovative book reviews the guidelines and frameworks from the major relevant international organisations including: the International Accounting Standards Board, Global Reporting Initiative, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, International Integrated Reporting Council, Carbon Disclosure Standards Board, and the World Intellectual Capital Initiative, and analyses their development and impact on the boundaries of financial and non-financial reporting. Illustrated with case studies and interviews with representatives of these organisations, this concise volume makes a significant contribution to the future of reporting theory and practice. It will be of great interest to advanced students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers.

This book investigates the going-concern principle in the non-financial disclosure by companies in the international scenario proposing concepts and challenges to come. Following the main accounting literature, requirements and regulations, this book proposes the current state of the art in the non-financial disclosure, collecting main mandatory and voluntary frameworks and standards (e.g. European Directive 2014/95/UE on non-financial information, Global Reporting Initiative, International Integrated Reporting Council, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, Climate Disclosure Standard Board, Carbon Disclosure Project, AA1000). This is a useful proposition for the investigation of the presence versus absence of the going concern in the sustainability and non-financial reports and disclosure by companies. Through a qualitative methodology, this book is intended to show the incidence of the going-concern in the non-financial disclosure and to what content and meaning it is refereed. Several issues and characteristics of information provided to stakeholders are drafted.

Corporate governance and corporate reporting are closely linked to each other, and their respective evolutionary patterns are mutually influencing. Along with the recent expansion of company disclosure, a growing attention is being paid to corporate governance determinants and mechanisms underpinning the decision to voluntarily adopt non-financial disclosure formats, such as integrated reporting. At institutional level, several national corporate governance codes have been changed towards the recognition and inclusion of this innovative, non-financial language. In academic research, the influence of corporate governance variables vis-à-vis the choice to embrace such reporting practices has been subject to a long scrutiny. However, only a little inquiry has so far analysed the influence of corporate governance factors on integrated reporting adoption, quality, and credibility. Accordingly, the aim of the book is to investigate if, and to what extent, corporate board composition and characteristics can affect, at the same time, the decision to voluntarily adopt integrated reporting by companies as well as their financial performance. The study carries out an empirical analysis of the professional features of board members at the time of their decision to implement integrated reporting as a new form of company accountability. The work provides innovative insights into the articulated relationships between the quantitative and qualitative composition of corporate boards and the latter’s choice to uptake this advanced form of reporting to represent the wider value creation processes of their organisations.

Winner of the 2010 PROSE Award for Best Business, Finance, & Management Book! "One Report" refers to an emerging trend in business taking place throughout the world where companies are going beyond separate reports for financial and nonfinancial (e.g., corporate social responsibility or sustainability) results and integrating both into a single integrated report. At the same time, they are also leveraging the Internet to provide more detailed results to all of their stakeholders and for improving their level of dialogue and engagement with them. Providing best practice examples from companies around the world, One Report shows how integrated reporting adds tremendous value to the company and all of its stakeholders, including shareholders, and also ultimately contributes to a sustainable society. Focuses on the emerging trend of integrated reporting as a top priority for companies, investors, regulators, auditors and civil society Provides compelling case studies from some of the world's leading companies doing integrated reporting Addresses how companies can move toward One Report and how it can become a keystone of a sustainable strategy for both the company and society Explains what others-such as analysts, shareholders, other stakeholders, auditors, regulators, legislators, and civil society-need to do to enable the rapid and broad adoption of One Report Filled with case studies and the most current trends on integrated reporting, this book is an invaluable guidebook on the future of reporting and how this future can lead to a sustainable society.

Sustainability reporting serves as a tool for companies to assess and communicate their sustainability-related efforts. However, these reports may lack reliability and value because of their voluntary and mostly unregulated nature. Two major practices have been adopted in order to overcome these weaknesses: First, accompanying the growth in reporting there has been a rise in the proportion of reports that include assurance statements prepared by third parties. Second, in response to the increased complexity and length of stand-alone sustainability reports, there have been moves to combine some social and environmental disclosures with financial disclosures in single reports. This dissertation examines these two practices, which mark recent trends in non-financial reporting and may impact the accounting and sustainability landscape with regard to future disclosure practices. Special attention is paid to investors’ information processing of these issues, their general perception, the content of assurance statements and the rising issue of assuring integrated reports. The thesis contributes to the discussion on integrated reporting and sustainability-related assurance, as well as on theoretical considerations within accounting research. It illuminates perception by primary stakeholders, critically examines current practice and points to upcoming challenges.

Despite the development of innovative approaches to strengthen accountability and the quality of integrated reporting disclosures, stakeholders are increasingly demanding more objective and unambiguous data. Therefore, the use of non-financial performance measures that assist in collecting comparable information and the verification thereof by independent experts can help to establish trust in a firm’s communication with its stakeholders. Certainly, non-financial information should complement mandatory financial reporting to go beyond traditional financial ratios and link them to non-financial risks and achievements. This book examines the possibility of using information provided by performance measurement systems in the process of preparing integrated reports. It presents an overview of the integrated report from the supply side, which undoubtedly affects the quality and usefulness of the information presented as well as enhances the manner in which the data and analyses are suitable for independent assessment. The book looks at the ways in which various groups of stakeholders - management; those who prepare non-financial reports; investors - influence the scope of the key performance indicators (KPIs) used for integrated reporting purposes, and what categories of KPIs are the most significant. Further, it analyzes which performance measurement systems provide information for the different components of integrated reports. The book is interdisciplinary, its thematic scope is at the intersection of accounting, business reporting, and business management, and thus it provides an important source of knowledge for students, scholars, and researchers of economics, finance, and management. It will also be a valuable guide for those preparing integrated reports or other forms of non-financial reporting.