Connected reporting: Why CAs should lead the way

As sustainability reporting requirements and expectations continue to evolve, stakeholders increasingly expect financial statements, climate-related disclosures and broader sustainability information to provide a coherent picture of an organisation’s performance, risks and future prospects. Connectivity has gone from something that’s encouraged to a hallmark for high-quality reporting.

The Connected Reporting Landscape is the first report in the Global Accounting Alliance’s (GAA) three-part Connectivity in Reporting series. It explores what connectivity is, why it’s essential to high-quality reporting, and how professional accountants can help deliver it.

Fiona Donnelly CA, Director of Sustainability at ICAS, said: “At ICAS, we support reporting that gives stakeholders a useful and comprehensive picture of an organisation. Better connectivity between financial and sustainability information is key to achieving this.”

Why connectivity matters

With the growing breadth of sustainability reporting, the value of information increasingly depends on how well it’s connected to related disclosures across the reporting ecosystem.

But connected reporting goes beyond just cross-referencing information. It’s about having consistent reporting boundaries, aligned data and assumptions, and a clear narrative that brings financial and sustainability reporting together. This enables stakeholders to better understand how sustainability-related matters influence organisational performance, risk and long-term value, enabling more informed decision-making.

The GAA report highlights the risks of fragmented information, organisational silos and checklist-driven approaches, all of which can make reporting less coherent and useful. It also considers what’s needed to improve connectivity, including effective governance, shared frameworks and collaboration across an organisation.

Ultimately, connected reporting provides an opportunity to strengthen corporate reporting by clearly linking climate, nature and social matters to financial performance, risk management and business strategy.

The publication is timely in the UK, where the UK Government’s modernising corporate reporting consultation has recently opened. Its focus on a simpler reporting framework makes the GAA’s message on coherent, decision-useful reporting especially relevant for CAs and the organisations they work in.

Leading the way

Connectivity draws on many of the skills CAs already have, including materiality, professional judgement, measurement, internal controls, governance and reporting, making them well placed to lead the way. 

Fiona Donnelly CA, ICAS Director of Sustainability said: “We’ve been on the front foot in equipping our future CAs and members to meet this growing market need, embedding sustainability into our CA qualification and continuing professional development through dedicated CPD courses.”

The Connected Reporting Landscape is the first of three reports in the GAA’s Connectivity in Reporting series. Read the first report now to learn more about connected reporting and how you can address connectivity in your own organisation.

ICAS is one of the ten world’s leading professional accountancy bodies that comprises the Global Accounting Alliance and has supported this research and the connectivity in reporting series.