Use of reasonable estimates can improve sustainability reporting, ACCA says

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has urged organisations not to fto patchy information derail their sustainability reporting, saying that decision-useful disclosures are inactive imaginable without hard figures.

In its latest report, Sustainability reporting: moving with estimates, the accountancy assemblage tackles the information challenges that often forestall organisations from producing reliable sustainability information.

The guidance sets retired applicable ways to make sustainability accusation utilizing “reasonable and supportable” information. This volition alteration the organisations to marque transparent assumptions astir existent conditions and aboriginal outcomes, thereby guiding determination making.

ACCA Corporate Reporting Insights – Financial caput Aaron Saw said: “As sustainability reporting requirements are inactive evolving, and globally accepted measurement methodologies for sustainability accusation person not been established, this usher provides invaluable enactment to organisations everyplace arsenic they statesman the reporting process.”

The study reviews however organisations presently estimation sustainability metrics successful situations wherever nonstop measurements are not feasible.

It notes that immoderate entities trust connected third-party oregon proxy data, portion others deduce sustainability indicators from existing fiscal oregon operational records.

The ACCA besides points retired that a fig of organisations are attempting to amended information prime astatine source. Measures see grooming unit successful information collection, gathering dedicated sustainability information systems and integrating them wherever possible, and establishing controls and collaboration crossed the worth chain.

The study states that, though nonstop measurement should stay the extremity for robust sustainability data, estimates are sometimes unavoidable due to the fact that of uncertainty oregon due to the fact that the scope of what needs to beryllium measured is inactive evolving.

When high-quality information is missing, it suggests that gradually improving estimates implicit clip tin beryllium a applicable mode to make utile sustainability disclosures.

It adds that “reasonable estimates bash not undermine the usefulness of the accusation if the estimates are accurately described and explained”.

Recently, the UK Government finalised the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards. The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants welcomed the move, calling the standards a “significant step” towards greater transparency, accountability and spot successful sustainability reporting.

"Use of tenable estimates tin amended sustainability reporting, ACCA says" was primitively created and published by The Accountant, a GlobalData owned brand.