The Transition to integrated reporting: a guide to getting started

→ Download the Integrated Reporting Getting Started Guide.

The IFRS Foundation has released an updated resource to help companies that wish to apply both the Integrated Reporting Framework and the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, which are complementary tools for investor-focused communications. Transition to integrated reporting: A guide to getting started provides a phased approach for implementing the Integrated Reporting Framework and helps preparers understand how IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards can be taken into account in their reporting journey.

An integrated report is a concise communication about an organisation’s strategy, governance, performance and prospects. Presenting each topic in the context of the organisation’s external environment and through a multi-capital lens, an integrated report summarises how the organisation creates, preserves or erodes value in the short, medium and long term.

Used by companies in over 75 countries around the world, the Integrated Reporting Framework drives high-quality corporate reporting and connectivity between financial statements and sustainability-related financial disclosures, bringing together the information that investors need to assess a company’s ability to create value over time.

While the Integrated Reporting Framework provides principles-based guidance for reporting structure and content, companies also need to use Standards to provide granular information. Accordingly, IFRS S1 lists an integrated report as one possible location for sustainability-related financial disclosures when it forms part of the general purpose financial reports.

The updated Getting Started Guide is intended to help companies preparing to implement IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-Related Financial Information and IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures, wherever they may be on their integrated reporting journeys:

• Those new to integrated reporting may wish to begin by adopting the principles and concepts specified in the Integrated Reporting Framework over one, two or three reporting cycles. This Guide can help them to better understand how the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards and the Integrated Reporting Framework can work together to improve transparency in reporting.
• Experienced integrated reporters can start understanding how to embed IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 disclosures and hence, improve comparability of their reports.