Scholarly record

NON-FINANCIAL INFORMATION IN ACCOUNTING – AN OPPORTUNITY OR A THREAT FOR ENTERPRISE

J. Adamek, M. Bak, J. Kogut

Abstract

One of the information sources describing an enterprise, its activities and results is the system of measurement and disclosures – i.e. accounting. This system, in its structure and effects of functioning, by adopting e.g. the final outcome in the form of a financial statement, should take into account the environmental challenges within which it is supposed to carry out the assigned goals. It is natural that changing the modern form of accounting (and therefore also financial reporting) becomes the function of dynamic changes occurring in the environment of its subject’s functioning, implied, e.g. by: rapid development of capital markets and international trade, increasing importance of e.g. brands, reputation, innovation, human resources or the implemented CSR strategy, as the factor of competitive advantage. These categories should be reflected in the type and scope of disclosed information. Therefore, the challenge for modern accounting and its reporting system is the orientation for the future, offering the possibility for prospective description of the status and the achievements of an entity, and also the requirement to present nonfinancial information focused on the content disregarded by the quantitative description typical for traditional accounting. The purpose of the discussion presented in the article is to reflect and evaluate the opinions of Polish accounting practitioners on the benefits and risks related to reporting nonfinancial information. The hypothesis of the article is the statement about the acceptance and understanding, by national accounting practitioners, of the statutory obligation to disclose and present nonfinancial information, supplementing and extending the spectrum of data describing the activities performed by an economic entity. The implementation of the adopted purpose and the verification of the adopted research hypothesis were carried out through the structure of the study covering, apart from the introduction and the summary also three substantive parts. The first of them, based on the subject literature studies, was devoted to the essence and the role of nonfinancial information in an enterprise accounting system and its significance for the stakeholders. The second part of the article presents Polish legal solutions regarding the disclosure of nonfinancial information and the selected national statistics related to the problem of this type of data presentation. In the third part, using the results of a survey conducted among the accounting practitioners with the participation of the Accountants Association in Poland, their opinions related to the perception of benefits and threats resulting from the presentation of nonfinancial information in the accounting system were discussed and analysed. The applied research methods were as follows: forward and backward snowballing, desk research and questionnaire interview.

Publication Impact Profile

No metrics available.

PLUMX see details

DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2018/1.3/S03.031

Publication details

Back to publication list