Assessment overview
Integrated reporting () is an innovative approach to corporate reporting which is gradually gaining international recognition. The International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC), which is the peak body driving the integrated reporting agenda internationally, explains that integrated reporting is about "communicating the full range of factors that materially affect the ability of an organization to create value over time" (IIRC, 2013a, p.8). This requires either preparing one comprehensive report or drawing links to standalone financial and sustainability reports, demonstrating how the firm interacts with the external environment and the key resources a firm depends on and is affected by to create value over the short-, medium- and long-term (IIRC, 2013a). According to the IIRC "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." (International Integrated Reporting Council, 2013b, p.1)
Assessment details
Assume that you are working for a consulting firm that specialises in implementing integrated reporting in large listed companies. You are required to write a report to the Chief Executive Officer of a large ASX listed company in Australia explaining how a move from traditional corporate reporting to integrating reporting can benefit the company and its stakeholders. Your report should specifically address the following:
1. Limitations of traditional corporate reporting. [note traditional corporate reporting includes the perpetration of separate financial reports and sustainability and other reports]
2. What is integrated reporting and how integrated reporting can rectify the limitations of traditional corporate reporting.
3. How does integrated reporting differ from other forms of non-financial reporting (e.g. sustainability reporting, environmental reporting, intellectual capital reporting). [Note: In particular, demonstrate the conceptual differences between integrated reporting and sustainability reporting]
4. Advantages and disadvantages (or costs and benefits) associated with integrated reporting, and theoretically informed arguments as to how the company may benefit, in the balance, by adopting integrated reporting. (Note: refer to theories in accounting that explain why companies may adopt integrated reporting and based on those theories predict how the company might benefit by adopting integrated reporting).
5. How relevant is integrated reporting to various stakeholder groups of the company (e.g., retail investors, institutional investors, lenders, environmental lobby groups, customers etc.)
In this research assignment you will be providing your personal view based on research evidence, theory and original thought.
In your assignment, you are expected to draw on:
- relevant accounting theories
- the International Integrated Reporting Framework issued by the IIRC (available at: http://www.theiirc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/13-12-08-THE- INTERNATIONAL-IR-FRAMEWORK-2-1.pdf)
- scholarly articles from academic journals
- reports issued by professional accounting bodies, accounting firms (particularly, the Big 4), regulatory bodies, the IIRC and other organisations
- official websites of professional accounting bodies, accounting firms (particularly the Big 4), regulatory bodies, the IIRC and other organisations
- media reports on integrated reporting
Structure and referencing
The assignment should take the form of a report and include an executive summary.
The entire assignment should not exceed 2000 words (+/- 10 %) (excluding title page, table of contents and reference list but including executive summary, footnotes, endnotes and appendices). A reference list should be provided.
To avoid plagiarism, you are required to provide a reference whenever you include information from other sources in your work. Further details regarding plagiarism are available in Section C of the unit outline.