Practical steps to achieve Better Business Reporting 

Ultimately good reporting is about meeting investors' needs. For an Annual Report this comes down to answering two key questions:

• What does the annual report tell me about the value of the business?
• What does the annual report tell me about the management's stewardship of the business?

Companies do not however, need to fully commit themselves to producing an Integrated Report in order to achieve some of the benefits outlined above.

A progressive approach to Better Business Reporting consistent with an ultimate goal of integrated Reporting can be taken through small steps, each of which provides its own value.

Possible Action	Key Steps	Comment
Cut clutter from  existing financial reporting	Restructure reporting around the key performance measures Explain each section in plain English Remove duplicate information and immaterial disclosures	Key challenges:   Aligning structure with the Group’s strategy Simplifying disclosures requires deep under-standing of underlying standards
Reveiw, rationalise, and consolidate all externally reported material	Consolidate information material to shareholders from existing reporting  Annual report narrative  Group sustainability report  Investor pack Reassess value of reporting other information not selected from the above	Recognises the growing importance of non-financial information in explaining performance   Rationalises shareholder reporting on a consistent basis Cuts across existing reporting flows
Restructure reporting around business model and strategy	Build a description of the business Structure the presentation of existing KPI’s, assets & liabilities, risks & opportunities around the objective of providing an understanding of current performance and value	Reporting in this structure requires close co-ordination with Operational Management to align content with the business model Dry-run will enable any gaps between the business model presented and operational reporting to be considered
Develop reporting around the Integrated Reporting framework	Needs a clear description of the business model around which reporting can be built Structure the report around the six IR content elements with detailed content driven by shareholder needs (stewardship and valuation assessment) Develop reporting process to address new disclosure needs – Sourcing, Data quality, Process embedding	Integrated Reporting is evolving but it presents an opportunity for companies to present their story to investors from the perspective of their business model. It is unlikely to be mandated in the near term but current reporting proposals reflect similar objectives.