Abstract
The case for the greater use of narrative disclosures within the annual report package continues to attract support from accounting academics. After a decade of comparatively limited attention, the topic of narrative reporting has returned to the accounting research agenda, in part in association with integrated reporting and a growing interest in accounting for business models, as well as a resurgence of intellectual capital research. In the light of a continuing optimism that narrative reporting will eventually assume its rightful place within financial reporting, the paper reports and reflects upon the findings of a study of the outcome of the Danish Guideline Project in the decade following its conclusion in late 2002. This initiative placed a heavy emphasis on the extension of narrative reporting in its principal output, the Intellectual Capital Statement, still widely regarded as a highly promising intellectual capital reporting framework. Based on insights derived from the study, the paper identifies a number of major obstacles that confront the advocates of narrative disclosure practices, the persistence of which is rooted in the contestable jurisdiction that characterises the accountancy profession itself.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 161-171 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Accounting Forum |
Volume | 41 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 27 Jun 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2017 |
Keywords
- Business reporting
- Danish Guideline Project
- Integrated reporting
- Intellectual capital
- Intellectual capital statements
- Narrative reporting
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Accounting
- Finance