Accountants for Growth – CCAB and Integrated Reporting

CCAB is delighted to support the work of the IIRC on Integrated Reporting which seeks to introduce the concept of more concise reports that give a comprehensive view of companies that are both meaningful and useful to investors and other stakeholders.  All five CCAB bodies – ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS and Chartered Accountants Ireland – are very much involved with the initiative and have two CCAB Chief Executives on the IIRC Council, one body participating in the IIRC Pilot Programme and all seeking to incorporate the principles of <IR> into their own reporting regimes.

CCAB has sought to raise awareness of <IR> amongst the accounting and business communities by hosting a series of roundtables around the UK for its members.  Nine events were held in the autumn – three in London (one specifically for the Public Sector) and one each in Leeds, Edinburgh, Manchester, Cardiff, Chester-Le-Street and Birmingham. In all, over 200 accountants attended the roundtables from a broad range of sectors including SMEs, large retail companies, local government and NHS Trusts, large firms, small practitioners, governmental organisations and academics.

The organisation of such events on a regional basis is a first for CCAB and, for me personally, it was an enjoyable and interesting tour of the country. I could have done without the severe floods that resulted in an eight-hour journey to Chester-Le-Street and an arrival in the dead of night at what looked like a rather spooky Lumley Castle! But this was more than compensated for the following morning when its full beauty was revealed in the light of day and by the admirable efforts of the participants to attend – they all made it!

Our aim is to bring the profession more fully into the dialogue around the shape and content of the International <IR> Framework. Many of those that attended were sympathetic to the aims of the IIRC and welcomed the practical nature of the discussions that were had. At the same time, the IIRC did not shirk the difficulties associated with implementing the <IR> Framework and there was debate around the practical barriers to its introduction. A summary of the discussions at the roundtables is available here (insert link).

On 16 April 2013, the IIRC will issue the Consultation Draft of the International <IR> Framework and all stakeholders are invited to help shape the future of Integrated Reporting by providing feedback. That feedback will guide the IIRC as it finalises the development of the Framework in preparation for the launch of v1.0 in December 2013. It is intended that CCAB will continue its involvement and seek the engagement of the accountancy profession.

My thanks go to Sir Tony Redmond, the CCAB Chairman, for his support, to the members of staff from all five bodies who were instrumental in organising the arrangements locally and to colleagues at the IIRC for their knowledge, companionship and good humour. Not every Accountant that walked through the doors at the start of the sessions were attending as supporters of the IIRC’s cause – in fact one person in particular thought it would be detrimental to small accountancy firms – but after a great discussion, even they agreed that Integrated Reporting has an exciting future, and should be able to transform business.

Finally, we believe that integrated reporting fits very well with CCAB’s current strategic theme of Accountants for Growth, whereby our core purpose is to promote sustainable growth in the UK economy via the UK accountancy profession. Our survey among leaders in the UK profession can be read here.