Integrated Reporting Framework (<IR> Framework)

    Background

    The <IR> Framework was originally published by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) (previously the International Integrated Reporting Committee). The IIRC was formed in August 2010 and had the objective to create a globally accepted framework for a process that results in communications by an organisation about value creation over time.

    In June 2021, the IIRC merged with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) to form the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF). The objective of the merger was to provide investors and corporates with a comprehensive corporate reporting framework across the full range of enterprise value drivers and standards to drive global sustainability performance. As such, the Framework was taken on by the VRF as one of its key resources and will now be maintained under its auspices.

    History of the development of the <IR> Framework

    After a consultation process, the IIRC published the first version of its 'International Integrated Reporting <IR> Framework' (<IR> Framework) in December 2013. In February 2020, the IIRC launched a revision process and identified three key themes of the revision: a) business model considerations, b) responsibility for an integrated report, and c) charting a path forward. The third theme was not directly related to the revision but focused on future of corporate reporting, including extended assurance and the role of technology, and was intended to inform the IIRC’s longer-term strategy. In January 2021, the IIRC published revisions of the Framework that focused on a simplification of the required statement of responsibility for the integrated report, improved insight into the quality and integrity of the underlying reporting process, a clearer distinction between outputs and outcomes, and a greater emphasis on the balanced reporting of outcomes and value preservation and erosion scenarios.

    The current version of the Framework can be accessed on the VRF website.

    Overview of the <IR> Framework

    Objective

    • The purpose of the Framework is to establish guiding principles and content elements that govern the overall content of an integrated report, and to explain the fundamental concepts that underpin them.
    • The Framework is written primarily in the context of private sector, for-profit companies of any size but it can also be applied, adapted as necessary, by public sector and not-for-profit organisations.
    • The Framework identifies information to be included in an integrated report for use in assessing an organisation’s ability to create value; it does not set benchmarks for such things as the quality of an organisation’s strategy or the level of its performance.
    • In the Framework, reference to the creation of value includes instances when value is preserved and when it is eroded and relates to value creation over time.

    Fundamental concepts

    There are three fundamental concepts underpinning <IR>:

    1. Value creation, preservation or erosion for the organisation and for others.
    2. The capitals, which are identified in the Framework as financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural capital.
    3. Process through which value is created, preserved or eroded.

    Purpose and content of an integrated report

    The <IR> Framework sets out the purpose of an integrated report as follows:

    The primary purpose of an integrated report is to explain to providers of financial capital how an organisation creates, preserves or erodes value over time. It therefore contains relevant information, both financial and other. An integrated report benefits all stakeholders interested in an organisation’s ability to create value over time, including employees, customers, suppliers, business partners, local communities, legislators, regulators and policy-makers.

    The ‘building blocks’ of an integrated report are:

    • Guiding principles – these underpin the preparation of an integrated report, informing the content of the report and how information is presented. They include:
      • Strategic focus and future orientation
      • Connectivity of information
      • Stakeholder relationships
      • Materiality
      • Conciseness
      • Reliability and completeness
      • Consistency and comparability
    • Content elements – the key categories of information required to be included in an integrated report under the Framework. They include:
      • Organisational overview and external environment
      • Governance
      • Business model
      • Risks and opportunities
      • Strategy and resource allocation
      • Performance
      • Outlook
      • Basis of preparation and presentation

     

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