Experts to shed key insights on integrated reporting at CA Sri Lanka webinar series

With integrated reporting (IR) continuing to remain a key area of focus across the globe amidst reinforced demands for corporate responsibility, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), which has continuously promoted the IR framework in the country, has once organised a wide-ranging webinar series on this important subject. 

An exciting line up of highly specialised subject experts will steer a nine-session online seminar series, which kicked off on June 16 and conclude on September 08, 2022. The Zoom-based series will be especially beneficial to annual report preparers, business leaders, entrepreneurs, CFOs, CEOs, academia and students who want to learn more about integrated reporting and its numerous benefits apart from why companies, both big and small, must follow the framework. 

The series opened featuring Smart Academy Chief Officer Raja Senanayake, who spoke on ‘Integrated Reporting: The Investor’s Perspective’, while the second session on ‘SDGs in Integrated Thinking and Reporting’ will be presented by the highly acclaimed Global Strategic Corporate Sustainability (Pvt.) Ltd Chairman/CEO Dr. Ravi Fernando, on June 29. The third session by BDO Sri Lanka Partner Jerad Dias on July 06, will shed light on ‘The Paradigm Shift: The Future of Reporting on Value Creation’.

The fourth session, which is scheduled to be held on July 19, will feature KPMG Sri Lanka Partner Ranjani Joseph, who will share her insights on ‘Integrated Reporting Assurance’, while the fifth session on how to use the ‘International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) Framework and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards Together’ will be presented by SheConsults (Pvt.) Ltd Director Aruni Rajakarier, on July 27. With more and more corporates looking to adopt integrated reporting, the sixth session on August 10 will see DIMO PLC Director/CFO Suresh Gooneratne share his company’s experience during the session titled ‘Integrated Reporting and the Anatomy of the Corporate’. 

The seventh session on ‘Transition to Integrated Reporting: How to Get Started’ will be held on August 18, featuring John Keells Holdings Group Financial Controller and Vice President Mohan Thanthirige, who will shed insights on how corporates can kick off their integrated reporting journey. The eighth session on the ‘IFC Governance and Disclosures Framework on Integrated Reporting’ is scheduled to be held on August 30 and will feature IFC South Asia ESG Officer Lopa Rahman, while the series will conclude with the ninth session titled ‘An Asian Perspective on Practical Challenges and Strategies for Successful Implementation’ on September 08, which will be presented by Linkoping University (Sweden) Lecturer and IIRC London Ambassador Dr. Nandita Mishra. 
The moderators for the series will be Integrated Reporting Council of Sri Lanka Chairman Ashane Jayasekara and former Integrated Reporting Council of Sri Lanka Chairman Asite Talwatte.  

Unlike in the past, the stakeholders, including investors, today have higher expectations and demands from companies now and amidst increasing access to information, they are privy to what is happening around them in terms of environment, technology and good practices. Hence, there is a growing need for companies, both big and small to ensure it provides stakeholders with access to information in terms of how the company is creating and adding value on a short and long-term basis, while moving away from the conventional annual reporting, which is largely focused on financial aspects and the bottom line of a company.

Since 2012, CA Sri Lanka has taken the lead in promoting the IR framework amongst corporates in Sri Lanka and in 2016, CA Sri Lanka also launched the Integrated Reporting Council of Sri Lanka, under the guidance of the International Integrated Reporting Council.