05 October 2017
The IFRS® Foundation has today published a case study report showing how companies from different parts of the world have improved communication in their IFRS financial statements.
Better Communication in Financial Reporting—Making disclosures more meaningful contains six case studies from varied industries. Its aim is to illustrate how improvements can be made and inspire other companies to initiate their own improvement projects.
The report explains the process these companies have gone through to improve disclosures in the notes to their IFRS financial statements and shows examples of the improvements made. By identifying what information is relevant, prioritising it appropriately and presenting it in a clear and simple manner, they have made their financial statements easier for investors to read and understand. Through the use of examples, the report shows that relatively small changes can significantly improve the quality of the financial information that companies provide.
The report forms part of the Board’s work under the theme of Better Communication in Financial Reporting. It complements other initiatives, including the Principles of Disclosure project and the recently published IFRS Practice Statement 2 Making Materiality Judgements.
Hans Hoogervorst, chairman of the Board, said:
The information in financial statements has to be communicated clearly and effectively to help investors make investment decisions. We hope that this report will inspire companies to start or continue their journeys to improve the communication of information in their financial statements.
The case studies included in the report are Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited, Wesfarmers Limited, PotashCorp, ITV plc, Orange S.A. and Pandora A/S.