16

INTEGRATED REPORTING
LEARNING OUTCOMES

After studying this chapter, you would be able to

 Understand the authority issuing Framework of Integrated Reporting
 Examine the purpose and objective of Integrated reporting.
 Analyse integrated reporting as better reporting tool by examining and
applying guiding principles and content elements of integrated reporting

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW

Integrated
Reporting <IR>

Salient
Issuing Purpose
features Capital Framework
Authority of IR
of IR

Guiding Content
Principles Elements

1. INTRODUCTION
In the last few decades, the concept of value is slowly and gradually shifting from price based or
market value of an entity to asset based whether it is tangible or intangible assets. Since the
dynamics of the global economy are changing, today’s organizations require to assess the value
created over the time by actively managing a wider range of resources. Resources like intangible
assets such as intellectual capital, research and development, brand value, natural and human
capital have become as important as tangible assets in many industries. However, these
intangible assets are not universally assessed in current financial reporting frameworks even
though they often represent a substantial portion of market value.

2. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE/ ISSUING AUTHORITY

Integrated Reporting (<IR>) is a concept first introduced in South Africa. Later on, this concept
travelled to many countries like German, France, Spain, Brazil and UK and integrated reporting
was made along with their financial statements in one or the other manner. In 2010, the
International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) was set up which aims to create the globally
accepted integrated reporting framework.
The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) is a global coalition of:
• Regulators
• Investors
• Companies

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• Standard setters
• The accounting profession and NGOs
Together, this coalition shares the view that communication about value creation should be the
next step in the evolution of corporate reporting. With this purpose they issued the International
Integrated Reporting (IR) Framework. The framework has been developed keeping in mind the
greater flexibility to be given to the entity and the management in the reporting but at the same
time should target to report the value created by the organisation through various capital.
Integrated Reporting as the name suggest will integrate both financial and non- financial
information. In future, it will become the only report to be issued by the organisation.

3. WHAT IS INTEGRATED REPORTING <IR>?

Integrated reporting is a concept that has been created to better articulate the broader range of
measures that contribute to long-term value and the role organizations play in society. Integrated
Reporting is enhancing the way organizations think, plan and report the story of their business.
Central to this is the proposition that value is increasingly shaped by factors additional to financial
performance, such as reliance on the environment, social reputation, human capital skills and
others.
This value creation concept is the backbone of integrated reporting and is the direction for the
future of corporate reporting. In addition to financial capital, integrated reporting examines five
additional capitals that should guide an organization’s decision-making and long-term success —
its value creation in the broadest sense.
“Integrated Reporting reflects how our company thinks and does business. This approach allows
us to discuss material issues facing our business and communities and show how we create value,
for shareholders and for society as a whole.” Dimitris Lois, CEO, Coca-Cola HBC
Organizations are using <IR> to communicate a clear, concise, integrated story that explains how
all of their resources are creating value. <IR> is helping businesses to think holistically about their
strategy and plans, make informed decisions and manage key risks to build investor and
stakeholder confidence and improve future performance.
Integrated Reporting (<IR>) promotes a more cohesive and efficient approach to corporate
reporting and aims to improve the quality of information available to providers of financial capital to
enable a more efficient and productive allocation of capital.
Integrated Reporting (<IR>) is shaped by a diverse coalition including business leaders and
investors to drive a global evolution in corporate reporting.
An integrated report is a concise communication about how an organization’s:
• Strategy

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 16.4 FINANCIAL REPORTING

• Governance
• Performance And
• Prospects
in the context of its external environment
It leads to the creation of value over:
• Short
• Medium And
• Long term

Concise Communication of
a) Strategy In the context of Leads to
b) Governance External
Environment Creation Of Value
c) Performance
d) Prospects

It’s a portal by which the organisation communicates a holistic view of:

• Its Current position
• Where it’s going And
• How it intends to get there
The report enables readers to make an assessment of the organisation’s ability to create value in
the future, with value creation referring to the value created for both the organisation and for
others.

4. PURPOSE OF INTEGRATED REPORTING

The primary purpose of an integrated report is to explain to providers of financial capital how an
organization creates value over time.

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An integrated report benefits all stakeholders interested in an organization’s ability to create value
over time, including:
• Employees
• Customers
• Suppliers
• Business partners
• Local communities
• Legislators
• Regulators and
• Policy-makers

5. SALIENT FEATURES OF INTEGRATED REPORTING

FRAMEWORK

5.1 Principle Based Approach

The International <IR> Framework (the Framework) takes a principles-based approach. This
Framework identifies information to be included in an integrated report for use in assessing an
organization’s ability to create value; it does not set benchmarks for such things as the quality of
an organization’s strategy or the level of its performance.
It intent to strike an appropriate balance between flexibility and prescription that recognizes the
wide variation in individual circumstances of different organizations while enabling a sufficient
degree of comparability across organizations to meet relevant information needs.

5.2 Targets the Private Sector or Profit Making Companies

This Framework is written primarily in the context of private sector, for-profit companies of any size
but it can also be applied, adapted as necessary, by public sector and not-for-profit organizations.
5.3 Identifiable Communication
An integrated report may be prepared in response to existing compliance requirements, and may
be either a standalone report or be included as a distinguishable, prominent and accessible part of
another report or communication. It should include, transitionally on a comply or explain basis, a
statement by those charged with governance accepting responsibility for the report.

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An integrated report is intended to be more than a summary of information in other

communications (e.g., financial statements, a sustainability report, analyst calls, or on a website);
rather, it makes explicit the connectivity of information to communicate how value is created over
time.

5.4 Financial and Non-financial Items

The primary purpose of an integrated report is to explain to providers of financial capital how an
organization creates value over time. It, therefore, contains relevant information, both financial and
other.

5.5 Value Creation

Value created by an organization over time manifests itself in increases, decreases or
transformations of the capitals caused by the organization’s business activities and outputs. That
value has two interrelated aspects – value created for:
• The organization itself, which enables financial returns to the providers of financial capital
• Others (i.e., stakeholders and society at large)

Relationships

Interactions Activities

Value Created for

the Organisation and
Others

6. THE CAPITALS
The capitals are stocks of value that are increased, decreased or transformed through the
activities and outputs of the organization.
This is interrelated with the value the organization creates for stakeholders and society at large
through a wide range of activities, interactions and relationships. When these are material to the
organization's ability to create value for itself, they are included in the integrated report.

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The concept of capitals seeks to assist an organisation in identifying all the resources and
relationships it uses and affects to report in a comprehensive manner.
The Framework has categorise the capital into 6 main forms. However, at the same time, it
stresses upon that not necessary the same categorisation of capital be followed by the entities in
their integrated reporting.

Capital

Financial Manufactured Intellectual Human Social and Natural

Relationship

6.1 Financial Capital

The pool of funds
• available to an organization for use in the production of goods or the provision of services
• obtained through financing, such as:
♦ Debt, equity or grants; or
♦ Generated through operations or investments

6.2 Manufactured Capital

Manufactured physical objects (as distinct from natural physical objects) that are available to an
organization for use in the production of goods or the provision of services, including:
• Buildings
• Equipment
• Infrastructure (such as roads, ports, bridges, and waste and water treatment plants)
Note: Manufactured capital is often created by other organizations, but includes assets
manufactured by the reporting organization for sale or when they are retained for its own
use.

6.3 Intellectual Capital

Organizational, knowledge-based intangibles, including:
• Intellectual property, such as patents, copyrights, software, rights and licences
• “Organizational capital” such as tacit knowledge, systems, procedures and protocols

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6.4 Human Capital

People’s competencies, capabilities and experience, and their motivations to innovate, including
their:
• Alignment with and support for an organization’s governance framework, risk management
approach, and ethical values
• Ability to understand, develop and implement an organization’s strategy
• Loyalties and motivations for improving processes, goods and services, including their ability
to lead, manage and collaborate

6.5 Social and Relationship Capital

The institutions and the relationships within and between communities, groups of stakeholders and
other networks, and the ability to share information to enhance individual and collective well-being.
Social and relationship capital includes:
• Shared norms, and common values and behaviours
• Key stakeholder relationships, and the trust and willingness to engage that an organization
has developed and strives to build and protect with external stakeholders
• Intangibles associated with the brand and reputation that an organization has developed
• An organization’s social licence to operate

6.6 Natural Capital

All renewable and non-renewable environmental resources and processes that provide goods or
services that support the past, current or future prosperity of an organization.
It includes:
• Air, water, land, minerals and forests
• Biodiversity and eco-system health
Note: Not all capitals are equally relevant or applicable to all organizations. While most
organizations interact with all capitals to some extent, these interactions might be relatively
minor or so indirect that they are not sufficiently important to include in the integrated
report.

7. CONTRIBUTION OF CAPITALS IN VALUE CREATION

The stock of capitals available to the organization are increased, decreased or transformed as a
result of the value it is creating through various activities.

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The connectivity and interdependence among the various capitals or inputs — specifically their
influence on the organization’s long-term financial performance — should be communicated in an
integrated report.
The capitals not only interact with each other, but they are also influenced by external factors.
These include the economic climate, technological progress, social changes and environmental
issues. Many a times, the capitals become an internally generated intangible asset.
To understand how an organization uses its capitals, how they relate to each other and the
influence of external factors, it’s vital to define the strategy, and a series of KPIs, to measure the
strategy’s progress.

(Source of the above diagram: Framework of IR issued by IIRC)

8. GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR PREPARATION AND

PRESENTATION OF INTEGRATED REPORT
One of the distinguishing features of Integrated Reporting is that in contrast to compliance based
reporting, there can be no model report.
Every report must be built around the unique business model of the preparer. This requires a very
different mind -set when looking at examples of good reporting.
There are many good illustrations of how to report specific matters but examples can only provide
a starting point for a company’s own reporting, not a template.

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The starting point for understanding how Integrated Reporting works is considering the application
of the content elements and guiding principles of the IIRC’s Integrated Reporting framework.
The following Guiding Principles underpin the preparation and presentation of an integrated report,
informing the content of the report and how information is presented:

Consistency Strategic
and focus and
comparability future
orientation

Reliability and Connectivity

completeness of information

Stakeholder
Conciseness
relationships

Materiality

8.1 Strategic Focus and Future Orientation

An integrated report should provide:
• Insight into the organization’s strategy and
• How it relates to the organization’s ability
to create value and to its use of and effects on the capitals in:
♦ Short
♦ Medium and
♦ Long term

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• An integrated report should answer the question that where does the organization wants to
go and how does it intend to get there?
• The report should clearly show the linkages between strategy, risks and opportunities, current
performance, as well as future outlook and targets.

Extract of ABC LTD Sustainability Report Year 2016

Building Natural Achievements and Social Capital
ABC’s vision of sustainable and inclusive growth has led to the adoption of a Triple Bottom Line
approach that simultaneously builds economic, social and environmental capital.
It’s Social Investment Programmes, including Social Forestry, Soil & Moisture Conservation,
Sustainable Agriculture, Livestock Development, Biodiversity, Women Empowerment, Education,
Skilling & Vocational Training and Health & Sanitation, have had a transformational impact on rural
India.
These Programmes strive to empower stakeholder communities to conserve, manage and
augment their natural resources, create sustainable on and off-farm livelihood sources and
improve social infrastructure in rural areas.
Through its Businesses and associated value chains, ABC has supported the generation of around
6 million livelihoods, touching the lives of many living at the margins in rural India. In line with its
commitment to environmental goals, ABC has constantly strived to reduce the impact of its
Businesses, processes, products and services and create a positive footprint.
ABC has adopted a low-carbon growth strategy through reduction in specific energy consumption
and enhancing use of renewable energy sources.
ABC also endeavours to reduce specific water consumption and augment rainwater harvesting
activities both on site and off site at watershed catchment areas, as well as minimise waste
generation, maximise reuse & recycling and use external post-consumer waste as raw material in
its units.

8.2 Connectivity of Information

An integrated report shows the connections between the different components:
• Organisation's business model
• External factors that affect the organisation
• Various resources and relationships on which the organisation and its performance are
dependent upon

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Organisation Business
Model

Connectivity

Various resources
and relationships External Factors

Note: The report should highlight the connection, for example, between past, present and
future performance, between financial and non-financial information, and between
qualitative and quantitative information.

Sample Report
Schiphol Group Company – An Extract
Mission
We aim to rank among the world’s leading airport companies. We create sustainable value for our
stakeholders by developing Airport Cities and by positioning Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as
Europe’s preferred airport. Schiphol ranks among the most efficient transport hubs for air, rail and
road connections and offers its visitors and the businesses located at Schiphol the services they
require 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Profile
XYZ Group is an airport operator, focusing particularly on Airport Cities. A prime example of an
Airport City is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Europe’s fifth-largest airport in terms of passengers
and third-largest in terms of cargo.
In addition to our Dutch operations (Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam The Hague Airport,
Eindhoven Airport and Lelystad Airport), we have direct and indirect operations in the United
States, Australia, Italy, Indonesia, Aruba and Sweden.
Activities
The operation of airport and development of airport cities involve 3 inextricably linked business
areas: Aviation, Consumers and Real Estate. The integrated activities of Aviation, Consumers and
Real Estate form the core of the Airport City concept. This concept is not only applied to
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol but also – either in part or in full – to other airports, particularly
through the Alliances & Participations business area. Our revenues derived from this broad range
of activities are made up for the most part of airport charges, concession fees, parking fees, retail
sales, rents and leases, and income from our international activities.

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Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is an important contributor to the Dutch economy. It serves as one of
the home bases for Air France-KLM and its SkyTeam partners, from which these airlines serve
their European and intercontinental destinations. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol offers a high-quality
network serving 301 destinations.
Strategy
The maintenance and reinforcement of the Main Port’s competitive position, and that of
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in particular, is the single most important objective on which our
strategy is focused. This strategy combines the airport’s socio-economic function with our
entrepreneurial business operations.
The interconnection and interaction between these two elements are crucial for the robust and
future-proof development of Schiphol Group going forward. Corporate Responsibility is an integral
part of this strategy and has been permeating increasingly all aspects of our operations.
Stakeholders
Schiphol Group has many stakeholders and their interests can be quite divergent. We do our
utmost to conduct an active dialogue with all our stakeholders. In this, and in everything else that
we do, our core values play a key role: reliability, efficiency, hospitality, inspiration and
sustainability. Achieving the ambition to be Europe’s preferred airport calls for a culture driven by a
desire to fulfil or, better yet, surpass the expectations of customers and local stakeholders.

8.3 Stakeholder Relationships

An integrated report should provide insight into:
• Nature and Quality of the organization’s relationships with its
• Key stakeholders
including how and to what extent the organization understands, takes into account and responds
to their legitimate needs and interests.

Key
Organisation
Stakeholders

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8.4 Materiality
An integrated report should disclose information about matters that substantively affect the
organization’s ability to create value over:
• Short
• Medium
• Long term
Note: A focus on materiality should assist in avoiding irrelevant and detailed information from
cluttering the report. The integrated report is a high-level, concise report that contains only
the most material matters and information affecting the organisation and its ability to create
value over time. Additional information can be placed in supporting reports.

8.5 Conciseness
An integrated report should be concise.
Note: Conciseness implies more than ‘as short as possible’. It implies that the information should
be accessible through crisp presentation, the omission of immaterial information, and a
logical easy-to-follow structure.

8.6 Reliability and Completeness

An integrated report should include all material matters, both positive and negative, in a
balanced way and without material error.
Note: Integrated reporting requires that consideration is given to both good and bad news and
performance. Furthermore, both the increases and reductions in the value of the important
capitals should be reflected. Where the information is not perfectly accurate, estimates
should be used and appropriate processes in place to ensure that the risk of material
misstatement is reduced.

8.7 Consistency and Comparability

The information in an integrated report should be presented:
• On a basis that is consistent over time.
• In a way that enables comparison with other organizations to the extent it is material to the
organization’s own ability to create value over time.
Note: The use of industry benchmarks, indicators of best practice, and ratios are tools that can
improve reporting consistency and industry comparability.

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9. CONTENTS OF INTEGRATED REPORTING

An integrated report includes the eight Content Elements.
The Content Elements are fundamentally linked to each other and are not mutually exclusive. The
order of the Content Elements is not the only way they could be sequenced.
The Content Elements are not intended to serve as a standard structure for an integrated report
with information about them appearing in a set sequence or as isolated, standalone sections.
Rather, information in an integrated report is presented in a way that makes the connections
between the Content Elements apparent.
The content of an organization’s integrated report will depend on the individual circumstances of
the organization. The Content Elements are therefore stated in the form of questions rather than
as checklists of specific disclosures. Accordingly, judgement needs to be exercised in applying the
Guiding Principles to determine what information is reported, as well as how it is reported.
The eight content elements suggested by the Framework are:
9.1 Organisational Overview and External Environment
Question to be answered through this element in the integrated reporting is
“What does the organisation do and what are the circumstances under which it operates?”
9.1.1 Organisational Overview
An integrated report identifies the organization’s mission and vision, and provides essential context
by identifying matters such as:
A. The organization’s:
♦ Culture, ethics and values
♦ Ownership and operating structure
♦ Principal activities and markets
♦ Competitive landscape and market positioning (considering factors such as the threat of
new competition and substitute products or services, the bargaining power of customers
and suppliers, and the intensity of competitive rivalry)
♦ Position within the value chain
B. KQI: Key quantitative information
Example:
♦ Number of employees
♦ Revenue
♦ Number of countries in which the organization operates

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♦ Highlighting, in particular, significant changes from prior periods

C. Significant factors
♦ Significant factors affecting the external environment and the organization’s response
9.1.2 External Environment
Significant factors affecting the external environment include aspects of:
• Legal
• Commercial
• Social
• Environmental
• Political context
That affects the organization’s ability to create value in the short, medium or long term

Legal

Enviornmental Commercial
External
Enviornment

Political Social

Note: They can affect the organization directly or indirectly (e.g., by influencing the availability,
quality and affordability of a capital that the organization uses or affects).

9.2 Governance
Question to be answered through this element in the integrated reporting is
“How does the organisation’s governance structure support its ability to create value in the
short, medium and long term?”

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An integrated report provides insight about how such matters as the following are linked to its
ability to create value:
• The organization’s leadership structure, including the skills and diversity (e.g., range of
backgrounds, gender, competence and experience) of those charged with governance and
whether regulatory requirements influence the design of the governance structure.
• Specific processes used to make strategic decisions and to establish and monitor the
culture of the organization, including its attitude to risk and mechanisms for addressing
integrity and ethical issues
• Particular actions those charged with governance have taken to influence and monitor the
strategic direction of the organization and its approach to risk management
• How the organization’s culture, ethics and values are reflected in its use of and effects on
the capitals, including its relationships with key stakeholders
• Whether the organization is implementing governance practices that exceed legal
requirements
• The responsibility those charged with governance take for promoting and enabling
innovation
• How remuneration and incentives are linked to value creation in the short, medium and
long term, including how they are linked to the organization’s use of and effects on the
capitals.
9.3 Business Model
Question to be answered through this element in the integrated reporting is
“What is the organisation’s business model?”
An integrated report describes the business model, including key:
• Inputs
• Business activities
• Outputs
• Outcomes

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Business
Activities

Inputs Business Model Outputs

Outcomes

9.3.1 Inputs
An integrated report shows how key inputs relate to the capitals on which the organization
depends, or that provide a source of differentiation for the organization, to the extent they are
material to understanding the robustness and resilience of the business model.
9.3.2 Business Activities
An integrated report describes key business activities. This can include:
• How the organization differentiates itself in the market place?
Example
Through product differentiation, market segmentation, delivery channels and marketing
• The extent to which the business model relies on revenue generation after the initial point of
sale
Example
Extended warranty arrangements or network usage charges
• How the organization approaches the need to innovate?
• How the business model has been designed to adapt to change?
9.3.3 Outputs
An integrated report identifies an organization’s key products and services. There might be other
outputs, such as by-products and waste (including emissions), that need to be discussed within the
business model disclosure depending on their materiality.

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9.3.4 Outcomes
An integrated report describes key outcomes, including:
• Both internal outcomes (e.g., employee morale, organizational reputation, revenue and cash
flows) and external outcomes (e.g., customer satisfaction, tax payments, brand loyalty, and
social and environmental effects)
• Both positive outcomes (i.e., those that result in a net increase in the capitals and thereby
create value) and negative outcomes (i.e., those that result in a net decrease in the capitals
and thereby diminish value).
9.4 Risks and Opportunities
Question to be answered through this element in the integrated reporting is
“What are the specific risks and opportunities that affect the organisation’s ability to create
value over the short, medium and long-term, and how is the organisation dealing with
them?”
An integrated report identifies the key risks and opportunities that are specific to the organization,
including those that relate to the organization’s effects on, and the continued availability, quality
and affordability of, relevant capitals in the short, medium and long term.
9.5 Strategy and Resource Allocation
Question to be answered through this element in the integrated reporting is
“Where does the organisation want to go and how does it intend to get there?”

An integrated report ordinarily identifies:

• The organization’s short, medium and long term strategic objectives
• The strategies it has in place, or intends to implement, to achieve those strategic objectives
• The resource allocation plans it has to implement its strategy
• How it will measure achievements and target outcomes for the short, medium and long term.
9.6 Performance
Question to be answered through this element in the integrated reporting is
“To what extent has the organisation achieved its strategic objectives for the period and
what are its outcomes in terms of effects on the capitals?”

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An integrated report contains qualitative and quantitative information about performance that may
include matters such as:
• Quantitative indicators with respect to targets and risks and opportunities, explaining their
significance, their implications, and the methods and assumptions used in compiling them
• The organization’s effects (both positive and negative) on the capitals, including material
effects on capitals up and down the value chain
• The state of key stakeholder relationships and how the organization has responded to key
stakeholders’ legitimate needs and interests
• The linkages between past and current performance, and between current performance
and the organization’s outlook
9.7 Outlook
Question to be answered through this element in the integrated reporting is
“What challenges and uncertainties is the organisation likely to encounter in pursuing its
strategy, and what are the potential implications for its business model and future
performance?”
An integrated report ordinarily highlights anticipated changes over time and provides information,
built on sound and transparent analysis, about:
• The organization’s expectations about the external environment the organization is likely to
face in the short, medium and long term
• How that will affect the organization
• How the organization is currently equipped to respond to the critical challenges and
uncertainties that are likely to arise.
9.8 Basis of Preparation and Presentation
Question to be answered through this element in the integrated reporting is
“How does the organization determine what matters to include in the integrated report and
how are such matters quantified or evaluated?”
An integrated report describes its basis of preparation and presentation, including:
• A summary of the organization’s
♦ Materiality determination process

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• A description of:
♦ Reporting boundary and how it has been determined
• A summary of
♦ Significant frameworks and methods used to quantify or evaluate material matters
9.9 General Reporting Guidance
The following general reporting matters are relevant to various Content Elements:
• Disclosure of Material matters
• Disclosures about Capitals
• Time frames for short, medium and long term
• Aggregation and disaggregation

10. INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD

LOOKING AT THE ROLE OF WIDER REPORTING
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) as part of its 'better communication' work is
studying and consulting on wider corporate reporting, including developments in Integrated
Reporting, as it considers the role the IASB may take going forward.
One possibility is that the IASB might consider a project to revise and update its existing Practice
Statement Management Commentary.
Businesses that are looking to communicate a broader story of value creation can use the
International IR Framework alongside IFRS.

11. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA (SEBI)

SEBI vide its circular no. SEBI/HO/CFD/CMD/CIR/P/2017/10 February 6, 2017 has advised top
500 companies [to whom Business Responsibility Report (‘BRR’) have been mandated under
Regulation 34(2)(f) of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2015
("SEBI LODR")], to adopt Integrated Reporting on a voluntary basis from the financial
year 2017-18.
The objective behind recommending voluntary adoption of Integrated Reporting is to improve
disclosure standards. An integrated report aims to provide a concise communication about how an

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organisation's strategy, governance, performance and prospects create value over time so that
interested stakeholders may make investment decisions accordingly. Today an investor seeks
both financial as well as non-financial information to take a well-informed investment decision.
Therefore, towards the objective of improving disclosure standards, in consultation with industry
bodies and stock exchanges, the listed entities are advised to adhere to the following:
(a) The information related to Integrated Reporting may be provided in the annual report
separately or by incorporating in Management Discussion & Analysis or by preparing a
separate report (annual report prepared as per IR framework).
(b) In case the company has already provided the relevant information in any other report
prepared in accordance with national/international requirement / framework, it may provide
appropriate reference to the same in its Integrated Report so as to avoid duplication of
information.
(c) As a green initiative, the companies may host the Integrated Report on their website and
provide appropriate reference to the same in their Annual Report.

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TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Questions
1. State the categories defined in the International IR Framework for capitals. Comment
whether an organisation has to follow these categories rigidly.
2 Can a Not-for Profit organisation do the Integrated Reporting as per the Framework?
3 Can an Integrated reporting be done in compliance to the requirements of the local laws to
prepare a management commentary or other reports?

Answers
1. Various categories of capital are:
♦ Financial
♦ Manufactured
♦ Intellectual
♦ Human
♦ Social and Relationship
♦ Natural
Organizations preparing an integrated report are not required to adopt this categorization or
to structure their report along the above lines of the capitals.
2. The Framework is written primarily in the context of private sector, for-profit companies of any
size but it can also be applied, adapted as necessary, by public sector and not-for-profit
organizations.
3. An integrated report may be prepared in response to existing compliance requirements. For
example, an organization may be required by local law to prepare a management
commentary or other report that provides context for its financial statements. If that report is
also prepared in accordance with this Framework, it can be considered an integrated report.
If the report is required to include specified information beyond that required by this
Framework, the report can still be considered an integrated report if that other information
does not obscure the concise information required by this Framework.

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