+ Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to addJoining The Dots –an introduction to and trends in integrated reporting.Chair: Rebecca Gunn, Manager, Sustainability Reporting, BHP Billiton, Member GRI Stakeholder Council

Hwang Soo Chiat, Associate Professor, School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University Terence Jeyaretnam, Director, Net BalanceNick Ridehalgh, Partner, KPMG; Content Taskforce Member, IIRC Victoria Whitaker, Network Manager, Focal Point Australia, Global Reporting Initiative

+

What Accountants need to know about Integrated Reporting: An Asian Perspective

Photo credits: Getty Images

Dr Hwang Soo ChiatSingapore Management University

Wong Dan Chi (DC)Paia Consulting

+Study

What is this about?

Ongoing study Current results largely

based on SG. KR responses so far are from reporters which are similar to responses from SG reporters.

Survey opinions on Disclosure Valuation Standardisation Education

Who are the respondents?

Respondents: 46 professionals Key representatives from

Sustainability reporting. Management or Finance

64 students from Accounting & Business

+Current picture

0

100

200

300

400

500

No. of GRI reports in Asia

Source: GRI data-base, 20 Mar 12

Year of Publication

0 39 105 7

16

3137

5869

34

No. of GRI reports in SG & KR

Source: GRI database, 20 Mar 12

SGKo-rea

Year of Publication

33

410

Japan114, 28%

China; 115; 28%

Korea; 34; 8%

India27, 7%

Breakdown of GRI reports in 2011

+Results - DisclosureSummary: Non-financial reporting is important (87%) and useful (85%). The greatest perceived cost of reporting are direct costs required to gather information and prepare reports. Opinions differ regarding time taken to reap benefits.

Top reasons for disclosure:

78% Improved reputation/brand

74% Improved stakeholder communication and relationships

61% Identify areas for cost savings, reduced wastage

$80%

Direct costs

needed to obtain

information

$76%

Direct costs

needed to prepare report

$41%Costs to modify

accounting system

$65%

Cost of assurance

for accuracy

& relevance

$35%

Risks of bad

publicity if company

is transparen

t

1-3

3-5

5-7

7-10

>10

Never

24% 35% 33%

4% 2% 2%

Time taken to reap benefits

(in years)

+Results - ValuationSummary: Most believe that non-financial information should be valued both quantitatively and qualitatively. Most also believe that it is possible to draw links between financial and non-financial information.

78%thinks that non-financial information should be disclosed, it should be valued both quantitatively and qualitatively.

4%17%

78%

Quant, in financial terms only

Quant, in both fin & non-fin terms

74% strongly or moderately agrees that it is possible to draw links between financial and non-financial information.

74%

26%

Agree NeutralDisagree

+Results - StandardisationSummary: 76% strongly or moderately agrees that standardisation is necessary, with greater comparability cited as the main reason. There appears to be low level of sustainability reporting standards.

Top reasons against standardisation:

50% Standards tend to be biased towards beliefs of certain countries or industries, even with multiple stakeholder engagement approaches

36% Each country or different stock exchanges may have their own legislation requirements

ISO14

001

OHSAS1

8001 GRI

ISO26

000

ISAE3

000

AA1000

AS

AA1000

SES IR

Awareness of Standards

UsersMarginal difference btwn no. of people aware and no. of users

+Results - EducationSummary: Majority there is a need for accountants to receive education in non-financial reporting, particularly on valuation techniques and drawing linkages between non-financial and financial reporting.

90% says

“YES”: There is a need for accountants to receive formal education on non-financial reporting.

96% says

“YES”: There is a need for accountants to undertake short courses on non-financial reporting.

0%

70%

43%

58% 63%57%

Topics of interest

Regulatory and voluntary trends in non-financial reportingIntroduction to non-financial reporting frameworksValuation techniques of non-financial informationDrawing meaningful linkages between non-financial and financial information

+Moving forward: Preliminary recommendations Awareness raising (still at nascent stage) Promote trust in framework: GRI Ambassadors Leverage on authority: GRI with various levels of

check Value chain: For SMEs to adopt standard

Develop the results into full report for GRI conference, and conduct further research for other reports/academic papers

Talk to us if you’re interested to receive detailed results (danchi@paiaconsulting.com/schwang@smu.edu.sg)

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