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ACCA publishes its first Integrated Report

Date

13 Aug 2012

Sections

Euro & Finance

2011 / 12 Annual Report focuses on strategic outcomes and strategic future of the global accountancy body

ACCA’s (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Annual Report for 2011 / 12 has been produced for the first time as an integrated report, following the initial approach set out by IIRC (International Integrated Reporting Council). ACCA is a member of IIRC’s Pilot Programme for organisations seeking to move to integrated reporting.

Helen Brand, ACCA’s chief executive, says: “Our first integrated report aims to present a clear and coherent picture of our strategic performance, and our future prospects as a global organisation. It is important for us as a professional body to explain how we create value for our stakeholders – especially our members – and the place we occupy in society. This report is our first attempt at doing this using the emerging discipline of IR.”

Through IIRC, integrated reporting – or IR – aims to collate the material information about an organisation’s strategy, governance, performance and prospects that reflects the commercial, social and environmental context within which the organisation operates.

ACCA’s report lists key achievements for ACCA throughout the strategic year 2011 / 12 and discloses more performance measures than ever before. The report gives a fuller explanation around ACCA’s strategic performance in the interests of greater transparency and accountability. Its content is based on materiality analysis which identifies the issues of importance to readers of our report, and an evaluation of how we create value for our stakeholders, especially our members. These are both key elements of the integrated reporting concept.

Dean Westcott, ACCA’s President, says: “This is a step forward in how we report our annual performance. ACCA has been involved in the work of the IIRC since its inception, and we welcomed their proposals to strengthen the relevance of corporate reporting to investors and other stakeholders. That is the point of this report, which alongside ACCA’s Corporate and Social Responsibility statement and our financial accounts mean we are sharing with our stakeholders fuller and more relevant information on the progress ACCA is making towards its strategic goals.

“ACCA’s involvement as an IR Pilot Programme organisation ensures that we can use our experience to contribute to the development of the global IR framework and learn from other major companies who are also moving down this path.”

ACCA’s annual report, CSR statement and financial accounts are available on ACCA’s website . This corporate information is released in advance of ACCA’s Annual General Meeting, which takes place on Thursday 20 September 2012.

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For more information, please contact:

Alana Sinnen, ACCA Newsroom

+ 44 (0) 207 059 5807

+44 (0) 7715 812120

alana.sinnen@accaglobal.com

Helen Thompson, ACCA Newsroom

+44 (0)20 7059 5759

+44 (0)7725 498654

helen.thompson@accaglobal.com

Notes to Editors

1. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.

2. We support our 154,000 members and 432,000 students in 170 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. We work through a network of over 80 offices and centres and more than 8,400 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through our public interest remit, we promote appropriate regulation of accounting and conduct relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.

3. Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. We believe that accountants bring value to economies in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. Our values are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and we ensure that through our qualifications, we prepare accountants for business. We seek to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and remove artificial barriers, innovating our qualifications and delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their employers.