Non-financial reporting: the concept, regulatory standards and issues of the formation process
Abstract. Commitment to achieving sustainable development goals, focus on solving environmental and social problems reduce business risks, improve corporate image and increase the value of the organization. Non-financial reporting allows economic entities to present information on the desire for sustainable development to various groups of interested users. However, the regulatory framework and scientific literature do not form a single approach to the essence of non-financial reporting, and therefore in practice there are several of its types, such as an integrated report, a sustainable development report, social and environmental reports. Also, the process of preparing non-financial reporting is not regulated; each economic entity builds it independently, which complicates the formation, analysis and subsequent certification of reporting. The article is devoted to clarifying the definition of non-financial reporting, considering existing international and national standards for its preparation, characterizing the distinctive features that directly affect the procedure for its formation, as well as highlighting the functions that are revealed through the benefits received by companies due to its publication. As a result of the study, a model of the process of preparing non-financial re-portingwas formed, which allows the company to identify significant topics for disclosure, taking into account its business model, the reporting perimeter and the interests of the parties involved.
Keywords: non-financial reporting, sustainable development, stakeholders, economic entities, standards, reporting, assurance.
Highlights:
- the concept of non-financial reporting as reporting on the economic, environmental and social prospects for the development of a company has been clarified;
- the practice of forming non-financial reporting by Russian companies has been analyzed;
- international and national standards for the preparation of non-financial reporting have been characterized;
- a model for the process of preparing non-financial reporting has been proposed.
Diana A. Gafurova - Samara, Russia; Tatiana A. Korneeva - Samara State University of Economics, Samara, Russia