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The purpose of this paper is to enhance conceptual understanding of reporting boundaries in corporate annual reports by developing a conceptual framework of the rules and principles, referred to here as dimensions, underlying boundaries. A total of nine contemporary regulations/guidelines are compared in terms of the boundary dimensions identified to illustrate similarities and differences in boundary concepts.

To develop a conceptual framework of reporting boundary dimensions, academic and industry literature were analysed to identify boundary dimensions. Thereafter, nine contemporary regulations/guidelines were compared in terms of these dimensions. A qualitative approach was taken including document analysis and content analysis.

A total of 10 key boundary dimensions were identified through analysis of academic and industry literature. Each dimension represents a continuum along which regulations/guidelines can position themselves. Taken together, the 10 dimensions provide a comprehensive description of the chosen boundary concept.

The paper contributes to accounting theory by providing a holistic conceptual framework of dimensions relating to reporting boundaries, thus answering calls for more conceptual development of the boundary construct. The conceptual framework and comparison of contemporary regulations/guidelines adds to scarce literature considering financial and non-financial boundaries simultaneously, which is relevant for annual reports. From a practical perspective, the paper brings renewed visibility to boundaries with implications for preparers, users, standard setters and auditors of annual reports.

We assess the impact of NZ IAS 32 on the financial reporting of convertible financial instruments by retrospective application of the standard to a sample of New Zealand companies over the period 1988 ‐ 2003. NZ IAS 32 has a broader definition of liabilities than does the corresponding current standard (FRS‐31) and it does not permit convertibles to be reported under headings that are intermediate to debt and equity. The results of the study indicate that in comparison with the reported financial position and performance, the reporting of convertibles in accordance with NZ IAS 32 would result in higher amounts for liabilities and higher interest. Thus, analysts using financial statement information to assess risk of financial distress will need to revise the critical values of commonly used measures of risk and performance when companies report under NZ IAS

This paper aims to investigate the extent to which accounting standards for social impact reporting are in the public interest. This study aims to explore what the public interest means for social impact reporting by charities; and assess the extent to which the accounting standardisation of social impact reporting supports the public interest so defined.

This study conducts a case study of how stakeholders in Australian charities conceptualise the public interest when discussing accounting standardisation. This paper distinguishes three concepts of the public interest from prior research, namely, aggregative, processual and common good. For each, this paper analyses the implications for accounting and how accountants serve the public interest, and how they align with stakeholder views.

Stakeholder views align with the aggregative and processual concepts of public interest, however this was contested and partial. Accounting standards for social impact reporting will only serve the public interest if they also capture and implement the common good approach.

Clarifying how key stakeholders interpret the public interest can help standard-setters and governments design (or withhold) accounting standards on social impact reporting. This paper also distinguishes different practical roles for accountants in this domain – information merchants, umpires or advocates, which each public interest concept implies.

This paper extends prior research on accounting for the public interest to social impact reporting. The paper empirically demonstrates the salience of the common good concept of public interest and demonstrates the diversity of views on the standardisation of social impact reporting by charities.

This paper aims to evaluate non-financial reporting (NFR) frameworks insofar as risk reporting is concerned. This is facilitated through analysis of the adequacy of climate- and pandemic-related risk reporting in three industries that are both significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and are at risk from climate change. The pervasiveness of pandemic and climate-change risks have been highlighted in 2020, the hottest year on record and the year the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Stakeholders might reasonably expect reporting on these risks to have prepared them for the consequences.

The current debate on the “complexity” of sustainability and NFR frameworks/standards is critically analysed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and calls to “build back better”. Context is provided through analysis of risk reporting by the ten largest airlines and the five largest companies in each of the hotel and cruise industries.

Risk reporting on two significant issues, pandemics and climate change, is woefully inadequate. While very little consideration has been given to pandemic risks, disclosures on climate-related risks focus predominantly on “risks” of increased regulation rather than physical risks, indicating a short-term focus. The disclosures are dispersed across different corporate reporting media and fail to appreciate the long-term consequences or offer solutions. Mindful that a conceptual framework for NFR must address this, the authors propose a new definition of materiality and recommend that sustainable development risks and opportunities be placed at the core of a future framework for connected/integrated reporting.

For sustainable development risks to be perceived as “real” by managers, further research is needed to determine the nature and extent of key sustainable development risks and the most effective mitigation strategies.

This paper highlights the importance of recognising the complexity of the issues facing organisations, society and the planet and addressing them by encouraging robust consideration of the interdependencies in evolving approaches to corporate reporting.

This study contributes to the current debate on the future of corporate reporting in light of two significant interconnected crises that threaten business and society – the pandemic and climate change. It provides evidence to support a long-term oriented and holistic approach to risk management and reporting.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between social impact, corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting and firm performance in the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) banking industry, providing insight into CSR-performance nexus debate, especially for non-environmentally sensitive industry (NESI).

We use a sample of 27 publicly listed banks in five ASEAN member countries (i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand), with the period of observations ranged from 2011 to 2019 year. This study also carefully accounts for endogeneity issues and the dynamics of social impact – CSR reporting – bank financial performance relationship.

The results show that social impact (performance) and CSR reporting negatively associate with bank performance, either measured by accounting performance or market performance. The negative association between social performance and bank financial performance also persists in a longer-term relationship. This result implies that social performance and CSR might not have the expected result for banks in ASEAN developing countries and the expected effect also does not manifest in the following periods.

The negative association between social performance and financial performance implies that banks’ CSR in ASEAN might be misstargeted or that it takes more time to manifest the expected outcome. Therefore, banks should be able to foresee if social investment will finally offset the opportunity cost from diverting financial resources away from their core activities. On the other hand, policymakers must standardize the reporting related to social activities for banks and should bring the environmental and social issues to the depositors’ attention to show that these issues are also relevant in the banking industry.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to provide empirical evidence on the direct relationship between social impact, CSR reporting and firm performance in the context of ASEAN’s NESI. The results should be of potential interest value to ASEAN’s banks, regulators and shareholders.

This paper aims to review 68 archival studies on the impact of audit committees (ACs) on firms’ consequences [(non)financial reporting, performance and audit quality] in European firms.

Applying a stakeholder agency-theoretical framework, the author differentiates between three categories of AC variables: presence; composition; and resources, incentives and diligence.

The author finds that AC composition, (non)financial reporting and audit quality are dominant in the literature review. Other inputs or outputs are either too low in amount or yielded heterogeneous results, hindering clear tendencies. However, there are indications that financial expertise is positively related to financial reporting and audit quality, in line with agency theory and European regulatory assumptions.

In the discussion of potential future research, the author emphasizes, among others, the need for the recognition of innovative and sustainable AC variables, inclusion of moderator and especially mediator variables and reaction to endogeneity concerns by advanced regression models.

As the European Commission currently discusses extended regulations on AC duties and composition, this literature review highlights the huge impact of financial expertise on financial reporting and audit quality. In view of the increased monitoring duties of sustainability reporting, both business practices and regulatory bodies should increase the sustainability expertise of ACs.

This analysis makes useful contributions to prior research by focusing on attributes of AC and their impact on firms’ outputs in the European capital market, based on a differentiation between mandatory one-tier/two-tier systems and the choice model. The findings support the promotion of European evidence-based regulations, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.

This paper problematizes TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) reporting in a way that demonstrates areas where academic research can contribute towards realizing the transformative potential of this unique form of sustainability accounting in its early stages of development.

The paper proposes a number of research agendas for impactful interdisciplinary research into new forms of corporate reporting of sustainability risks, opportunities and dependencies.

There are several major challenges that both reporting corporations and investors need to address in realizing the potential of TCFD style risks, opportunities and dependencies reporting. Key among these is developing new practices of climate-related scenario analysis and reporting.

There is potential for many different academic research studies to provide solid evidence in helping improve the practical impact of TCFD style sustainability reporting. These impacts may assist in moving corporate policies and actions towards zero carbon.

This is the first agenda-setting paper that addresses the need for, and opportunities of, academic research into TCFD reporting and its potential to transform corporate accounting and reporting of sustainability.

Since 2013, the Indian Companies Act Section 135 has mandated corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting by Indian central public sector enterprises (CPSEs). CSR reporting is regulated by multiple Government of India ministerial agencies, each requiring different formats and often different data. This study aims to understand the impact of these multiple regulatory bodies on CSR reporting by Indian CPSEs; evaluate the expectation gap between regulators and the regulated; and investigate the compliance burden on CPSEs.

An interview-based approach was adopted to evaluate the perspectives of both regulators and regulated CPSEs on the impact of the new regulations on CSR reporting quality. The authors use the lens of institutional theory to analyse the findings.

Driven by coercive institutional pressures, CPSEs are overburdened with myriad reporting requirements, which significantly negatively impact CPSEs’ financial and human resources and the quality of CSR activity and reports. It is difficult for CPSEs to assess the actual impact of their CSR activities due to overlapping with activities of the government/other institutions. The perceptions of regulators and the regulated are divergent: the regulators expect CPSEs to select more impactful CSR projects to comply with mandatory reporting requirements.

The findings of this study emphasise the need for meaningful dialogue between regulators and the regulated to reduce the expectation gap and establish a single regulatory authority that will ensure that the letter and spirit of the law are followed in practice and not just according to a tick-box approach.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of recent developments in corporate reporting, specifically from the carbon disclosure project (CDP) environment, in the evolution of European post-crisis financial markets.

Theoretical and instrumental advancements from nonlinear dynamics have been applied to the analysis of market behaviour and the online presence or reputation of major European listed banks.

The application of a nonlinear statistical methodology (i.e. the autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average [ARFIMA] estimation model) demonstrates the presence of a long history of collected data, thus indicating a certain degree of predictability in the time series. Also, this study confirms the existence of structural breakpoints, specifically the impact of the CDP reporting in both stock prices and online search trends of the sampled companies for certain periods.

This study introduces new methodological perspectives in corporate reporting studies, as the application of nonlinear techniques can be more effective in capturing corporate transparency issues. A limitation to overcome is to explore whether the impact of reporting is different due to the specific reporting behaviour each company adopts.

The “breakpoint” concept should enlighten the importance to firms of providing more information in specific moments, which can impact on both traditional (i.e. stock prices) and modern (i.e. online popularity) performance metrics. Additionally, it should be taken into account by stakeholders, when analysing the accountability of firms to improve their decision-making processes and policymakers, for monitoring and contrasting speculative and insider trading activities.

Online search trends represent a new public attitude to how society “measures” the effectiveness of firms’ disclosure behaviours.

Combining ARFIMA with structural break techniques can be regarded as a relevant and complementary addition to classic “market reaction” or “value relevance” techniques.

This paper aims to review and discuss City Developments Limited (CDL)’s 15-year sustainability reporting journey with GRI Standards as core for its blended reporting framework.

The paper draws on the knowledge and experience of the company’s reporting team from the perspective of CDL’s Chief Sustainability Officer.

To future-proof businesses against climate crisis and achieve relevant sustainable development goals, companies need to be committed to goal setting, tracking and reporting Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) performance for sustained growth. A robust and rigorous approach to sustainability reporting that incorporates both value and impact allows organisations to identify material ESG issues and determine risks and opportunities that will help organisations to enhance strategy and practices for long-term resilience and business growth.

This paper can help businesses to understand that the rising climate change agenda has led to substantial emphasis being placed on climate-related standards and disclosures.

Businesses cannot manage without measuring performance. Reporting is critical for businesses to effectively integrate sustainability into their business strategy and operations to accelerate action towards a low-carbon economy.

This paper addresses the development of sustainability reporting trends and the benefits and challenges of using GRI as a core reporting framework in an evolving ESG reporting landscape from the perspective of a real estate company.