Investors assessing the recent reporting season of publicly listed companies will base their opinions of corporate performance largely on a handful of key numbers, all expressed in dollar terms and all dealing with the most recent financial year. This fixation with the bottom line and the profit and loss statement has existed for 100 years or so and, at its most extreme, has produced a short-term focus for investors that’s been blamed for many failings, from poor corporate governance to the massaging of accounts to please the market and drive the share price — and, with that, executive remuneration.
In recent times, more progressive elements within the accountancy profession have championed the concept of widening reporting criteria. In the past decade the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) promoted sustainability reporting and introduced the idea of the triple bottom line, now adopted by about 4000 organisations around the world.

GRI as principles of sustainability combined with traditional financial reporting to deliver a holistic vision of corporate performance, which goes behind publishing the sustainability report and the financial accounts in the same document. A significant milestone in this evolution was reached in April with the release of the Consultation Draft of the International Integrated Reporting Framework.

Required
Prepare a memorandum for a board of directors that: defines integrated reporting; discusses the various capitals and describes the pilot program on integrated reporting.