Accountancy Europe: Pursuing the conversation on the future of corporate reporting

22 March 2017

This paper is a follow-up to the 2015 Accountancy Europe Cogito paper, The Future of Corporate Reporting – creating the dynamics for change. It presents a summary of the responses received to the paper in writing as well as during several public and private events.

The future of corporate reporting is a subject worth pursuing further. There is also an ongoing role for the accounting/ audit profession to play in continuing the debate about future directions.

Accountancy Europe has identified three main topics for further development to move the future of corporate reporting forward:

• elaborate the CORE & MORE concept
• support the coordination and development of non-financial information reporting
• further research the impact and opportunities of technology as a driver and enabler of reporting change

Each of these topics is discussed in more detail in the follow-up paper, complemented by relevant quotes from respondents. These stakeholders included preparers, users, auditors, regulators, academics, and policy makers from across Europe.

Overall, respondents and attendees at the events indicated that:

• although there is a growing audience for corporate reporting, investors are still seen as the primary users of such reporting; Some respondents proposed to provide financial and nonfinancial information to the capital providers through the CORE report, and use the MORE reports to cover information needs of other stakeholders

• financial reporting is not losing absolute relevance: it still has significant confirmatory value, and as such, should be as timely as practicably possible

Full press release

Full paper

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