Non-financial Reporting. Conceptual Framework, Regulation and Practice

Non-financial reporting represents social and environmental disclosure and today it belongs to one of the most dynamically developing themes both in the academic literature on CSR and sustainability as well as regulatory efforts and corporate practice. Social and environmental reporting is viewed as the disclosure progress towards a complete disclosure of a company’s activities. It also serves as a tool for shift from traditional short-term focus on financial performance towards a long-term, future-oriented holistic disclosure framework. As it delivers relevant information on social and environmental impact of a company, it also reveals the direction for its strategic development and operation. This chapter focuses on non-financial reporting as an essential element of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder management. The paper places non-financial reporting in conceptual framework of CSR, sustainability, stakeholder theory. It addresses recent regulatory standards of 2014/95/EU directive and provides a brief overview of frequency of non-financial disclosure by companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Finally, by incorporating the perspective of neo-institutional theory, it discusses the major challenges for further development of non-financial reporting.