Features of ESG Reporting and Its Role in Ensuring Sustainable Development of the Company

ESG Reporting as a key element of non-financial reporting serves as a source of information for managerial decision-making, risk control, development of relationships with counterparties, increasing attractiveness to investors, and strengthening competitiveness. Interest in this type of reporting is growing among both foreign and Russian investors. The world theory and practice of non-financial reporting have shown that interest in sustainability reporting has grown significantly over the past twenty years. Sustainable socio-economic development goals and basic principles for the formation and improvement of non-financial reporting were presented in the United Nations resolution. In this regard, companies entering or planning to enter the international market must include ESG indicators in their reports, as well as present a concept for achieving sustainable development goals, the implementation of which is confirmed by monitoring public non-financial reporting for compliance with environmental indicators, cleaner production and efficient use of material resources. The purpose of this study is to examine the legal regulation of the reporting procedure within the ESG concept, which is the main element of non-financial reporting. In this regard, the aim of this study is: to develop an accounting and analytical system that includes the main sources of information necessary for assessing the level of sustainability of Russian companies; to form an evidence base on the need to apply a multi-criteria approach to diagnosing the sustainable development of a company within the framework of the system of indicators disclosed in public non-financial reporting; to systematize data on the most important sources of information required for building company sustainability in the Russian Federation. The results of the study confirmed that the indicators presented in ESG reports affect the performance of companies operating in various industries. This article examines the features of accounting and analytical support for the formation of sustainable development reports. A reporting system that details information on the company's sustainable development in public non-financial reports allows investors seeking to form effective and sustainable corporate investment portfolios to obtain a fairly complete and accurate picture (Iazzolino et al., Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 30:1917–1927, 2023). The article also discusses the historical background of public non-financial reporting. The relevance and importance of the conducted research are determined by the fact that the authors have studied in detail the system of domestic and foreign legal regulation of the formation of ESG reporting, identified the main trends in the development of non-financial reporting. A system of reporting and analytical support for the formation of non-financial reporting that meets modern requirements is proposed. Also, the conducted study established the role of ESG reporting in ensuring the sustainable development of the company, identified the factors influencing the decision-making of the company's management on the formation of non-financial reporting. The system of indicators of accounting and analytical support for the formation of ESG reports developed by the authors allows improving the quality of reporting indicators when forming a strategy for the sustainable development of companies. The results and recommendations given in the article may be of particular interest to accountants, auditors, financial management, and management of commercial organizations.