5 WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATED REPORTING?

Failure to carry out such verification procedures would create a paradox between the goals of and the strong expectations of new, relevant information to support business decisions on the one hand, and the risk that the published information could contain material misstatements as a result of fraud or errors, not to mention inconsistencies that could undermine its credibility and provoke strong reactions from stakeholders, on the other hand.

At every step of the process (review of the reporting framework, design and implementation of internal control procedures, verification and validation of data), several complementary approaches could be adopted by internal audit or the external auditor depending on the type of indicators published and the company s level of maturity. The need to conduct such verifications is all the more necessary given that some of this information is unconventional and difficult to collect, compile or quantify.

RELEVANT COMMUNICATION

Given their operations, locations, products, regulatory and competitive environment, companies are complex structures. One of the greatest challenges of integrated reporting is to simplify and reflect this complexity in a format and language that are accessible to a wide variety of readers. Too much information can be as harmful as too little. Therefore, if the scope of communication is to be widened, relevant indicators must be selected. Communication must be concise and effective.

The integrated report must be tailored to each company using simple words and graphics (infographics, analytical charts, hyperlinks, etc.). Under the supervision of their governance body, companies must therefore make a balanced judgement in selecting information with a significant impact on their business model and capitals. Those responsible for preparing the report must organise this information by order of importance and put it into perspective, which includes using technology to facilitate access to more detailed information for relevant stakeholders.

DRIVING AND COMMUNICATING VALUE CREATION / IFACI - CNCC