Digital Transformation of Corporate Reporting

In today’s world where ‘change’ is arguably the new ‘constant’, accounting professionals are expected to ‘reimagine and redefine’ the future of the profession and the work they do to make them ready for the digital transformation enabled by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The impact of digital transformation across businesses is being felt in an unprecedented manner and this is very significant and distinctive in both the latitude and rapidity of transformation in business and information ecosystems. Therefore, it is logical to state that accounting and corporate reporting are key functions that must align with the digital transformation age. Accounting professionals who understand the critical data in the internal and external reports will be in a better position to take greater advantage of digital transformation. Corporate reporting is the concept that connects an organisation to its internal and external stakeholders. It includes financial performance reporting; social responsibility reporting; corporate governance reporting; risk management and governance reporting, sustainability reporting, audit and assurance reporting, and other forms of reporting, which are generally, classified as mandatory and voluntary disclosures. Thus, corporate reporting aims at communicating the value created by a business organisation as well as its impact on the people, society, and the environment in which the business organisation operates. This chapter explores the role of technologies in digitalizing corporate reporting through a consistent and efficient configuring and restructuring of the most informative quantitative and qualitative data from the source to the end users of corporate reports.