Could do better … ACCA provides key findings of their Annual Sustainability Awards
The judges of this year’s Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Annual Sustainability Awards have written an open letter to all companies who submitted their report for scrutiny, advising where improvements could be made.
The awards will be announced on 3 December 2008 at a special ceremony, and are based on a rigorous judging process. The first step is an analysis of all reports against ACCA’s judging criteria, categorised into three areas: completeness, credibility and communication, each a key element of reporting. The second step is a more qualitative, discursive discussion by a judging panel representing broad stakeholder views, which leads to the selection of winners.
The letter pointed to the following issues for improvement:
• A lack of synergy between hard copy reporting and online statements making it difficult to navigate between the different mediums.
• An ineffective Chairman’s statement in many instances, missing out on the opportunity to elaborate and make a personal comment on a company’s commitment to sustainability.
• An absence of clearly identified targets, thus making it difficult to identify the actual commitment to continuous improvement.
• A lack of a balanced viewpoint in reports, focusing on the positive points without highlighting the negative elements. This made it difficult to form a balanced opinion of an organisation.
Rachel Jackson, head of social and environmental issues, said:
“The letter is intended to thank organisations for entering our awards, to flag up areas for improvement and share with them the strengths and weaknesses under the three areas of credibility, completeness and communication. The aim is to provide feedback to reporters to help them improve both the standard and quality of their disclosures.”
Specific information regarding the strengths of the Award winners and additional, more detailed technical recommendations for improving the standard of future reporting, will be released on 3 December 2008.
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Notes to Editors
1. ACCA is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. We have 325,000 students and 122,000 members in 170 countries worldwide.
2. ACCA has worked with governments, national organisations and development agencies in emerging economies- for over 20 years- promoting the accounting profession, to create value for the communities, businesses and individuals it serves.
3. ACCA believes that globalisation of business means that one set of reporting standards is essential. We favour the principles-based IFRS.
4. ACCA understands the real issues facing small businesses as 63,000 of our members work in SMEs or small partnerships worldwide.
For further information please contact:
Helen Thompson, ACCA Newsroom +44 (0)20 7059 5759 +44 (0)7725 498654 helen.thompson@accaglobal.com