Reporting on Intangible Assets in Romania: Harmonization Between International Standards and Sustainability Reporting (ESG)

In a continuously changing global economic environment, the evaluation and reporting on intangible assets are becoming increasingly complex and essential for accurately reflecting a company’s value. The national regulations (the Order of the Minister of Public Finance No. 1,802/2014 and the Order of the Minister of Public Finance No. 2,844/2016) and international standards (IAS/IFRS and US GAAP) address these challenges in different ways, generating difficulties in the consistent application of accounting principles. This article aims to analyze the practical challenges related to the recognition, evaluation, and reporting on intangible assets in the context of the new sustainability requirements introduced by CSRD and ESRS, as well as international accounting standards. The paper seeks to highlight how ESG-relevant intangibles (green patents, energy efficiency software, intellectual capital, brand, and reputation) can be approached from both accounting and managerial perspectives, providing guidance for practitioners in aligning financial reporting with sustainability reporting. Through this approach, the article contributes to consolidating an integrated perspective that supports companies in the transition towards coherent, comparable, and forward-looking reporting, in which financial and non-financial performance become interdependent.