Viability of Integrated Reporting in Accounting: ACCM4600 Report

This report, prepared for an accounting practice, investigates the viability of implementing Integrated Reporting (IR). The report begins with a letter of transmittal and title page, followed by an executive summary outlining the benefits of IR, such as increased transparency and investor confidence. The introduction provides background on the need for IR, emphasizing its role in improving cohesion and efficiency in reporting. The report explores the purpose, scope, research methods (secondary thematic analysis), and definitions of key terms like IR. A discussion section presents a case study involving partners with differing views on IR implementation. The report references the positive impacts of IR on company reputation, investor relations, and the integration of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) parameters. The conclusion and recommendations advocate for the adoption of IR, highlighting its potential to provide a competitive advantage and enhance client services. The report also includes a table of contents, limitations, assumptions, bibliography, and appendices.

Running head: ACCOUNTING THEORY AND CONTEMPORRAY ISSUES
Accounting theory and contemporary issues
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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1 Letter of transmittal / covering email
Mr. David Richards
Accounting Firm
Subject-Discussion over sage of IR or integrated Reporting in Accounting
Dear Mr. David Richards, this report is to update you on 7th Jan, 2020 about the usage of the IR
or integrated reporting system in the field of accounting system.
The different findings of the report are as follows-
The use of IR or integrated reporting system will be helping the company to make sure that they
are being able to guide the investors in a very clear and proper way. This will be helping in
bringing about huge revenue for the overall welfare of the organization.
It is also to be considered that there have been varying opinions among different employees.
Some are of the opinion that this is a very new concept and will be very helpful in making the
company profitable in the long run and also it will enable in giving the full service to the clients
and also to all the other investors. It must be noted that the two employees that is Jimmy Chung
is of the opinion that they must use IR as it will help them to make their work much more easily
and also to give better clarity to the investors.
Deepak Shami is another partner who is trying to oppose this concept as he is trying to talk about
the different other services that they must use. However they must be using their time and energy
to focus over the other core and traditional services like that of auditing, budgeting and other
aspects rather than IR.

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However it must be noticed that IR is to be used as this will help in developing a better clarity
and transparency in order to make sure that there is a better reflection on the future goals and
also the investors are made acquainted with the probable risks that can come up in front of them
in future.
Finally, I would like to thank you for the opportunity this report gave me to familiarize myself
with the range of accounting software products and to work with the staff
Yours sincerely
Daniel Johansson

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2. Title page
This contains the following information, centered and evenly spaced down the page
Investigation into the viability of using Integrated Reporting system
The author/s of the report and their position
The date the report was submitted
Name of the person to whom it was submitted

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
Purpose............................................................................................................................................6
Scope................................................................................................................................................7
Research methods............................................................................................................................8
Definition of terms...........................................................................................................................8
Limitations.......................................................................................................................................8
Assumptions....................................................................................................................................9
Discussion........................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................15
Appendices....................................................................................................................................15

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Executive summary
IR or integrated reporting is one of the most modern and useful method that is being used by
many of the accounting firms and they will be using this method to make sure that they are to
bring about more clarity in their work. However on the other hand they will be able to attract
more number of investors and the investors will be getting a sense of loyalty towards them and
also make sure that they are being able to make their overall operations much more smooth and
also understanding. However this must be made sure that there is a proper training and
development facility arranged for all the members of the organization so that they are able to
understand the ways in which the work will be carried on and they are also able to speed up the
quality of the overall functioning of the company.

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Introduction
The introduction should include some or all of the following:
• Background: What circumstances was the impetus for this report?
The main reason behind the IR or integrated reporting is to ensure that there is more
transparency and clarity among the investors. More clarity among stakeholders will be helping in
making sure that the company is able to attract the attention of a large number of investors and
this in turn will be boosting up the amount of fund or money that is actually being invested.
However in order to make sure that the company is able to attract a large number of investors
they will have to make sure that they are being able to reduce the number of discrepancies or the
errors that are often made in the work or the accounting or reporting methods. There are different
rules in different countries and they have different kinds of influences over others. It is for this
reason that there are many differences that are often seen in the reposting and the accounting
methods that are done by the accounting firms of the different organization (Mio, Marco and
Pauluzzo 2016). It is because of this reason that the investors might often get confused and will
not be able to take up their decisions properly on whether to use their funds in order to make
investments.
The major purpose is to make sure that the integrated practice or IR is being used so that
bringing greater cohesion and efficiency to the reporting process, and adopting ‘integrated
thinking’. This will always be very helpful in bringing about the clarity and the major amount of
efficiency in order to make sure that all the calculations are being done in a proper way and they
are also being able to provide a very good and sound knowledge to all the investors and the other
financial houses and firms who will be able to understand the ways in which the companies are

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actually making their profits and whether they are running on the profit or the loss. This in turn
will be helping the investors to make their investing decisions.
Purpose
What is the purpose of the report?
The main purpose of this report to make recommendations on whether the firms must stick to the
age old and the traditional services like that of surveys, accounting and other such aspects or they
must start using the modern aspects like using the IR or the Integrated reporting system. The
main purpose is that they will be helping the organization (Ruiz-Lozano and Tirado-Valencia
2016). One of the major issues is that there must be proper clarity maintained among the clients
or the customers and also the investors (King and Fitzgerald 2016). In other words all the
stakeholders must be able to make sure that they are going in the right path and are not making
any irresponsible decisions or any kinds of investments without getting proper knowledge. The
Volkswagen crisis highlights how the misleading information can make the investors and the
other financial firms suffer from huge amount of losses and also they will have to suffer from
major losses.

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Scope
: What issues are discussed in the report? What issues are not covered?
The issues that have been mainly discussed in the report are the impacts that the usage of
IR or integrated reporting will be having over the overall importance of the company. Apart from
this the report has also discussed about the ways in which the IR or integrated reporting will be
helping in lowering the overall cost of the capital that is actually needed for the functioning of
the organization.
However the issues that have actually been found out in the work is that there must have been
some detailed and in depth description along with an in depth research. Though the reach works
have been properly cited that are relevant for this work but at the same time there must have been
a more detailed description of the methods along with the normal citation of the different
resources.
Research methods
How was the data in this report obtained?
The secondary thematic analysis has mainly used in this report to collect the data. This is
because the student has used the journals and the articles that were relevant to the topic that is if
integrated reporting or IR is to be used in the accounting firms.

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Definition of terms
: What specific terminology is used in that the reader may not be familiar with?
IR or integrated is one of the new terminologies in the fled of accounting that may not be
known among all the readers. This is because the readers might be from other educational
backgrounds or other educational backgrounds. This is because of the fact that this is one of the
most recent concepts that has emerged in the field of accounting. However it is the duly or the
responsibility of the teachers or the professors to make sure that they are being able to take care
of the different ways in which the students or the researchers will be able to know about the
concept and the benefits that the companies will be getting from the implementation of this
concept.
Limitations
: What constraints (e.g. time, resources, and data) were there?
The limitation is that the students did not have more amounts of resources to use the data
or the information for carrying on the research in a more detailed or in depth manner (Kovacs et
al. 2019). However efforts have to be made to give more time and also more resources to the
students so that they can carry on with the researches in a better way and can also seek out the
help from the additional number of resources in order to enrich the level of their research work.

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Assumptions
: What has the writer assumed about background, concepts, and language and reader
awareness?
The writer assumed that the readers are from mixed backgrounds that are some of them
are from the accounting background whereas some are from the general background as well. It is
because of this reason that all the readers are not well aware about the different terms and
terminologies. This made it even more important to know that IR or integrated reporting system
is one of the modern and innovative methods of accounting that must be used in order to bring
about a better clarity in the services like financial accounting, finance forecasting and others.
Discussion
The given case study mainly talks about the different issues that can arise in the field of
accounting due to the usage of the age old and the traditional methods in the field of accounting.
It is also evident from the given case study that there are discussions between the two partners
Jimmy Chung and Deepak Shami regarding the implementation and also the following of the
method that is IR or integrated reporting. On the other hand it must be noted that Deepak Shami
wanted to focus over all the other aspects of accounting rather than the implementation of IR or
integrated reporting because they will be able to make sure that the company is not spending any
kinds of extra time, money or effort in order to implement and also grasp the usage of integrated
reporting or IR.

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It must be noted that the other partner is emphasizing on using IT or the integrated
reporting usage because this will be making their functions much more clear and also it will be
able to attract the attention of the investors or the ones who will be actually investing their
money on the firms. As per the opinion of De Villiers, Hsiao and Maroun (2017) using this mew
approach will also includes the parameters of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG), will
help in improving the overall reputation of the company and the investors will be able to make
some kinds of positive contributions towards the overall performance of the company.
Ahmed Haji and Anifowose (2017) have also stated in the similar context that there are
several contemporary issues that can appear in the field of contemporary accounting system. This
will be helping the industries to make sure that they are being able to identify and also
understand the different changes taking place in the field of taxation (Dumay et al. 2017). This
will be helping involving the taxpayers from making any kinds of errors or any kinds of
mistakes. This will be very helpful in making the process much more clear and there will be no
such mistakes in the field of taxation or any other kinds of aspects (Kovacs et al. 2019). This will
also be helping the companies to stay aware about the differ kinds of expenses that the company
will have to bear in order to make sure that they are being able to carry on with the task in a
proper way. The Australian Taxation Office is also focusing on work-related expense (WRE)
claims, with Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan (Sheedy 2019).
It is also estimated that there is often a huge difference in the amount of money at is
present in the beginning of the transaction and also the one that comes up at the end because of
the fact that the tax return is prepared by the agents, there is a huge gap which is estimated to be
greater than the corporate tax gap of A$2.5 billion. However this is not at all desired because this
will be making huge discrepancies or huge confusions in the field of different companies and

13CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
also in the amount of the taxations that must be paid by the taxpayers (Sheedy 2019).
Maintaining of the deadlines is also one of the most important aspects that must be maintained
by the organizations (Lodhia and Stone 2017).
This is because there is a sharp increase in the amount of work that is being assigned to
the different financing and the accounting firms. In order to cope up with this huge pressure there
are often some mistakes that are made by the organizations (Adams 2017). This is because the
employees might suffer from the feeling that they are not getting any proper amount of support
and they will also fall behind if they are not able to work at the right pace. It is because of this
reason that the people have to be given the right leadership skills and they will also have to be
given the proper support so that they are able to carry on with their work properly and also they
are able to maintain a sound work life balance.
IR or integrated reporting system will be helping the companies to make sure that the
rules and the regulations are being implemented in a proper way and also they are being followed
by all the employees. Employees will be able to maintain a fair play at their workplaces and also
be able to reach out to their managers or their leaders in need for the proper and the timely
support. This will be helping them in order to learn the new and the innovative kinds of
technology and also be able to carry on their work in a very clear and also time optimizing
manner.
This is useful for the entire accounting firm as thy will be able to maintain a proper
transparency and clarity so that they are being able to attract the attention of a large number of
investors. As per the opinion of Guthrie, Manes-Rossi and Orelli (2017), IR or integrated
reporting is the method by which the companies or the accounting firms will be able to bring

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about a huge transparency or clarity in their work. There is a kind of A to Z format that is being
used by the organizations that have developed the usage of IT or the integrated reporting system.
 A Strategic focus and future orientation
 B Connectivity of information
 C Stakeholder relationships
 D Materiality
 E Conciseness
 F Reliability and completeness
 G Consistency and comparability
Strategic focus and future orientation
IR principle will be making any report much more authentic as they will be able to give a
reflection towards the future prospects of risks and the other opportunities. This will be
highlighting the probable kinds of risks that the investors might be facing while they are making
any kinds of investments (Adams 2017).
Connectivity of information
An integrated thinking will naturally be helpful towards the organization. This is because
they will be helping in enriching the organizational culture and also the efficiency of
management will be boosted up. However it has to be logically structures so that there is proper
connectivity within the organizational culture and also in maintaining a proper transparency and
proper clarity in the organization.

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Stakeholder relationships
The integrated reporting system will be able to provide a proper venture into the
longevity and also into the quality of the relationship that is shared by the organization along
with its clients. The past records of the company relationship will be helping the organization to
attract the attention of the investors (Joshi 2018). If the new investors see that the company had a
good relationship with the customers from the beginning then they will naturally be much
interested in investing their money in this company. Apart from this they will also be able to
make a proper analysis of the different advantages or the different kinds of risks that they will be
facing in the near future.
Materiality
This aspect will be enabling the company to develop a very good amount of values of
over the coming years. In other words, the company will be able to generate a good amount of
values or make a good amount of revenue over the years.
Conclusion
Therefore it can be concluded that in order to attract more investors and also to bring an
out a proper clarity in their work they must start using the IR or integrated reporting. This
method is very useful as it helps in attracting more number of investors and thus it gives a huge
boost to the overall amount of revenue and also the that amount of capital fund that is being
raised by the different investors or the other financial or investing firms (Sobhan and Bose 2019).

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Recommendations
 It is recommended that the managers are arranging for a proper training and skill
development systems so that the employees are able to get a proper training
 IR or integrated reporting is one of the very new concepts and there can be some issues in
learning about the new terms and also the usage of the IR concept or integrated reporting
in a proper way. This is because all the existing employees or the senior employees might
feel threatened knowing that they will have to use IR or the new concept of integrated
reporting system.
 A proper horizontal communication system must be carried on so that the employees and
the managers can communicate with one another at any point of time without suffering
from any kinds of hesitations. This will be very useful for the accounting firms to be able
to carry on with the new and the updated IR or the integrated reporting system.
 External training system must be conducted so that the employees are getting an ample
amount of support in order to learn about IR and also be able to accept the emergence and
the usage of this concept. This will be helping them in order to understand that investors
are the major assets of the company and in order to keep up the pace of their performance
and also to develop a feeling of loyalty they will have to provide proper transparency and
clarity to their transactions and all the other kinds of projects that they are actually
undertaking.

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Appendices