ICAS research project on Intangibles seeks respondents to case study
You can help us explore how organisations could better report on Intangibles by responding to a case study-based survey.
Professor Stefano Zambon introduced the project by the University of Ferrara on ‘The Production and Consumption of Information on Intangibles: An Empirical Investigation of CFOs and Investors’ in an earlier article on icas.com.
To quote Prof. Zambon, despite intangibles being widely recognised "as critical to the business model of many companies, and fundamental for explaining the value creation process particularly as we continue to move towards a knowledge-based economy […] they largely do not appear on financial statements or in the related disclosures, especially when they are internally generated."
Notwithstanding their relevance, and while innovative reporting tools exist and a number of frameworks have been developed to guide companies, information on intangibles outside financial statements remains scant.
Further, despite a large amount of extant accounting and reporting literature on intangibles, critical gaps in our understanding remain such as:
- What are the measures and disclosures on unreported intangibles that are considered critical by users of this information (investors and financial analysts)?
- When disclosed, how is information on intangibles used and what is its perceived role with regards to stewardship and for decision-making?
- What is the view of producers (CFOs) on information on unaccounted intangibles?
This project therefore aims to provide evidence and to hear the opinion of preparers and users, as well as other relevant professional and institutional actors, on the production and consumption of the under-reported information on intangibles.
Your support is invaluable in gathering those views, by taking part in this research project and completing this online survey.
The survey should take approximately 30 minutes to complete. It is based on a case study including company financial statements and selected notes, and includes specific questions on the case study as well as some general questions to gather views and opinions on the subject area.
This research project is funded by ICAS and supported by EFRAG and EFFAS. We join the research team in thanking you for your valuable collaboration.
Intangibles survey
Click here to respond to the survey.