The first research report Meeting users’ information needs: The use and usefulness of Integrated Reporting explores how providers of financial capital perceive integrated reporting (<IR>) and its potential for providing decision-useful information, through interviews with senior capital market participants and other significant reports users.  The report highlights investors’ information needs and identifies the key challenges to widespread <IR> adoption.

The report indicates that “there is still work to do in raising awareness of <IR> principles among equity investors and other providers of finance so that integrated reporting is expected and demanded”.

A number of recommendations are put forward which focus on increasing the current market penetration of and familiarity with <IR> among equity investors and other providers of finance/users and increasing the demand and perceived usefulness of <IR>.  The recommendations include: 

• Empirical research should be undertaken to establish the capital market benefits of <IR>.  The report indicates that if such benefits were more clearly established, this would provide companies with greater incentive to adopt <IR>.
• Greater promotion of <IR> by current institutional investors in the <IR> investor network in client meetings and associated agendas.
• Current <IR> preparers should present their use of <IR> and its benefits for investment decision-making at capital market events outside of the results season.  The report indicates that this could be a platform to introduce <IR> and explain its value to company analysts and fund managers including the benefits for consistency of KPI reporting, risk monitoring, risk monitoring and key risk reporting and long-term drivers of value that underpin corporate strategy.

The second report Factors affecting preparers’ and auditors’ judgements about materiality and conciseness in Integrated Reporting explores the issues of materiality and conciseness in Integrated Reporting from the perspectives of corporate report preparers, company auditors and users of reports.  Evidence was gathered about current <IR> practices and issues faced by practitioners in determining materiality and conciseness in <IR>. 

Click for (all links to ACCA website:

• Press release
• Meeting users’ information needs: The use and usefulness of Integrated Reporting
• Factors affecting preparers’ and auditors’ judgements about materiality and conciseness in Integrated Reporting