Development of Integrated Reporting in Poland

Abstract

Organizational reporting is the most important tool of communication between an enterprise and its stakeholders. However, it is not a static tool but continues to develop and adapt to ongoing economic and social changes. Formerly covering only financial information; currently, it is supplemented by a wide range of non-financial information relating to all aspects of the business. The evolution of reporting is particularly fostered by the rapid development of the concepts of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development, as well as the progressing changes in the information needs of stakeholders. Enterprises are increasingly publishing voluntary reports concerning the social, environmental, and employment aspects of their business in addition to reports required by law. This results in the multiplication of reports and duplication of content, which has a negative impact on the reports' usefulness. The solution to this problem may be integrated reporting, which integrates and interconnects financial and non-financial disclosures. A milestone for the development of integrated reporting was the elaboration of integrated reporting guidelines by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) in December 2013. The aim of the paper is to present the development of integrated reporting in Poland in 2014-2020 on the example of public companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The quality of reports was assessed from the point of view of compliance with IIRC guidelines, as well as their usefulness for stakeholders. Content analysis of corporate publications and comparative analysis was used for this purpose.