ACCA to hold workshop on unravelling path to integrated reporting
Friday, 22 November 2013 00:00
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The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) the largest and fastest growing global professional accountancy body will hold a workshop titled ‘Unravel the path to Integrated Reporting’ on 3 December at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand commencing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Good governance has become a must in building a resilient business today. Many recent examples can be cited where failures in governance have led to value destruction, impacting investors, shareholders, employees and the communities in which they operate.
Similarly, there are examples of high profile Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) where both the board and management have been able to successfully communicate the value proposition to investors, creating additional investment and enhancing the future prospects and sustainability of the business.
In many ways the issue comes back to understanding what creates value, which must be understood by board members and senior management. Therefore if not well articulated, how can boards receive the right information to adequately assess the risks and opportunities relating to the company’s individual value creation story? A rapidly emerging idea that deals directly with the missing links in this story is integrated reporting, a framework based around some fundamental concepts.
Taking such scenario’s into context, the Professor of Management of the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura Uditha Liyanage, who is also currently on the panel of Judges for the ACCA ‘Sustainability Reporting Awards’ commented on the value of such workshops and said: “Ultimately, integrated reporting is a framework for a business to make its case for capital in a more effective way, bridging the gap between the value creation story and the investors’ assessment of business value and stewardship.
“Directors play an instrumental role helping deliver short, medium- and long-term value for the organizations they represent. They also have a responsibility to understand how to identify and manage capital dependencies. As the level of business complexity continues to grow, it is essential to have workshops of this nature and for relevant decision makers in organisations to attend them, as it will give a better understanding of these factors.”
Given the potential importance of this framework, the workshop will cover key areas related to this subject that will include integrated thinking and strategy, valuation of externalities, active governance, and telling the value creation story.
The resource person for this session will be KPMG India Technical Director, Sustainability and Climate Change Santhosh Jayaram. Having over a decade-long, in-depth involvement in the areas of sustainability and climate change, he is a regular speaker on important platforms on sustainability. He has been involved with more than 50 organisations across 15 countries as part of their sustainability journey. Apart from sustainability reporting he specialises in sustainability strategy, extra-financial risk, carbon strategy, product stewardship, EHS management systems, responsible investment and responsible supply chain.
He holds a Masters in Environmental Science and engineering (IIT, Mumbai) and has also completed an executive education program covering sustainable technologies from University of California, Berkeley Campus. He was a member of the standards committee at AccountAbility for the development of the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard and also functioned as working group member in the development of GRI G4 sustainability reporting guidelines.
Franklyn Amerasinghe, another member of the panel of judges for the ACCA ‘Sustainability Reporting Awards’ a John Keells Holdings PLC Director in addition to currently being a consultant and trainer in social dialogue, human resource management, corporate social responsibility and industrial relations, both in Sri Lanka and abroad, also gave his views on such initiatives: “The concept of integrated reporting, with its guiding principles and required content, represents not only an evolution but also a revolution in corporate reporting that addresses all stakeholder interests.
“It is a holistic approach that connects classical financial reporting with non-financial information such as sustainability issues, risk management and corporate governance. By introducing integrated reporting, companies can achieve reputational advantages with key stakeholders by using a precise, transparent, and representative form of reporting. Thereby having such workshops should be regarded as a boon to those tasked with reporting annually to shareholders and others, to acquire competence in the intricacies of this reporting technique.”
Interested parties can contact the ACCA Sri Lanka office for further details and registrations.
