ABSTRACT
The international framework includes the following guiding principles: Strategic focus and future orientation; Connectivity of information; Stakeholder relationships; Materiality; Conciseness; Reliability and completeness and Consistency and comparability. The Framework acknowledges that there are tensions between guiding principles and calls for judgement to be used in applying them. The Framework goes on to specify what an integrated report should look like if the principles are appropriately applied. The guiding principles are relatively easily applied in financial reporting where approaches are mandated and results required to be audited. Achieving comparability across organisations on non-financial and sustainability performance is more challenging due to the varied quality and extent of non-financial and sustainability reporting. In fulfilling the requirement that organisations provide insight into their 'strategic focus and future orientation' it is important to demonstrate that the strategy set out in the report is achievable.
