Seasoned finance professionals are used to dealing with dispersed information. However, it poses particularly interesting challenges when it comes to sustainability related reporting.

For instance, when performing group reporting, should information be aggregated or consolidated, and what exactly are the differences? How is this done when the data is similar, but not quite the same throughout the organisation?

Similarly, decentralised management of issues is commonplace. However, regulatory fragmentation creates new hurdles that organisations must overcome when reporting internally or externally, if they are to produce decision-useful information. What are they and how can they best be managed?

Furthermore, reporting standards in some cases are still lacking. IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, for instance, do not yet connect to the principles on many topic-specific issues. So what are companies to do? Does the lack of a standard mean that an issue is probably not important or not material? Should we look to other reporting standards instead, and if so, under what circumstances might it be appropriate or inappropriate?

So many questions, which a new ICAEW article in the connecting sustainability to finance series addresses for you. See for yourself by reading ‘Consolidating non-financial data: why standards matter’. 

Stay one step ahead in an ever-growing and fragmented sustainability reporting environment; remember our role is to help companies be responsible corporate citizens – it is not merely a compliance exercise.