Reporting

Companies face an increasingly challenging and complex reporting environment. The pace of regulatory change is increasing with investors and capital market participants increasingly demanding more information on business activities. Internally, the board and senior management are also requesting additional information. The ability of the finance function to ensure that reporting is meeting the different needs of stakeholders, and is timely, accurate and consistent is being challenged in terms of increased complexity and disparate information sources. For many organisations, the ability to connect financial and nonfinancial information efficiently and consistently is becoming increasingly more difficult. As a consequence, poor reporting can contribute to sub-optimal decision-making, leading to things such as missed market opportunity and regulatory non-compliance. Directors and executives need take a broader, long-term view of the organisation’s reporting practices, in the context of strategic priorities to ensure that the organisation is not exposed to adverse legal and regulatory consequences.