The International Integrated Reporting Council's meeting, hosted today by IFAC, comes at a seminal moment for corporate reporting. To be accountable to their stakeholders, organizations need to provide a clear and concise picture of their ability to create sustainable value over time. At the same time, rapid change and disruption, driven by climate change and technology, are forcing businesses to reconsider their approach to value creation and reporting.

Over the past decade, the corporate reporting landscape has become a mosaic of mandatory and voluntary disclosures under various standards and frameworks. The result is complexity and reporting that fails to meet the needs of investors and other stakeholders. Convergence towards relevant, reliable, and comparable narrative information and metrics is desperately needed.

Integrated reporting meets today’s expectations for corporate accountability and transparency. IFAC’s partnership with the International Integrated Reporting Council aims to support organizations in developing reporting and thinking that properly considers long-term opportunities and risks.

To address the future of reporting, and the role accountants must play in it, IFAC has published its Point of View on enhancing corporate reporting. Also published on the Gateway is an article from IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey and IIRC Interim CEO Charles Tilley that highlights the evolving role of CFOs and finance teams in accounting for value creation. IFAC is determined to support this evolution through an integrated value creation agenda.

Accountants have a key role to play in this future and must work to drive corporate reporting that meets the demands of the present and the future. This is an enormous opportunity that the profession must seize now.

Jamie is based in London and leads a global team of research, insight and policy experts who are dedicated to exploring the most significant issues impacting the business and accountancy world today. His own particularly specialism is focused around human capital and the future of work, covering areas such as work-based skills for the future, talent management strategies, equity, diversity and inclusivity issues and the impact of technology on work. He currently leads the largest annual global study on talent management and the future of work across the accountancy profession.