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The author's aim is to identify the links between two reporting systems: financial and nonfinancial.In this article, the connection between the financial statements and the management report will be shown. The work concerns the management report after the introduction of theobligation of non-financial reporting in the form of additional information in this report, or by means of a separate statement on non-financial information.The objective was achieved by means of literature studies in the field of accounting, as well as the analysis of legal acts, based on which the relations between the two reports should bedetermined. Deductive and inductive reasoning and the method of critical, comparative and descriptive analysis and synthesis were used to formulate conclusions. The existence of linksbetween the management report and the financial statement has been demonstrated. These links may pose a risk of repetition and non-compliance. It is desirable that these links should be madeclear to people responsible for drawing up both reports. Particular attention should be paid to the presentation of this information and steps should be taken in the accounting internal controlprocedures and internal audit, perhaps to confirm that the relevant information has been reconciled and to avoid unnecessary repetition.The results of the research show that there are so many connections, including non-financial information, that it is worthwhile to provide them and their verification as a conscious andorganized activity. This will build the image of the company in the eyes of the report readers.

The article is concerned with the issues of assessing the intellectual property rights as part of intangible assets of enterprises. The article is aimed at substantiating the theoretical principles and improving methodological approaches to the assessment of intangible assets in the process of formation of the value of enterprise. The normative-legal regulation of valuation of intangible assets in order to determine the value of intangible assets of enterprises in monetary terms for the purposes of accounting and in the field of professional valuation activity is studied. The interrelationship of approaches of independent professional estimation and accounting valuation in order to apply it to the needs of accountance is specified. Described are the cost (based on determining the cost of expenses, necessary for the reproduction or substitution of the valuation object), profit (used to determine the valuation of intellectual property rights, based on the application of assessing procedures for transferring the expected profit to the value of the assessed object) and comparative (determines the market value of an intangible asset, when there is sufficient reliable information on prices in the market of such objects and the terms of contracts for the disposal of property rights to such objects) approaches to the valuation of intangible assets. The formulas for computing the value of intangible assets based on the cost approach are provided. The assessment of intangible assets is carried out according to the above specified formulas of the cost approach on the example of a patent for invention. It is determined that in the absence of an active market to determine the fair value of intangible assets, it is advisable to apply the cost approach, namely: the method of direct reproduction.

Integrated reporting enables to provide interested users with non-financial information, including data about social activities and enterprise staff. Labor resources are a necessary source that causes the development of the company, and effective investment in human capital allows achieving strategic goals in a minimum amount of time. Consequently, the reflection in the reporting of human capital data is of great value, since currently investing in this type of capital amounts to a significant share. The nature of information about human capital and strategies for its management is subject to disclosure in integrated reporting and allows users to valuate the efficiency of such investments. The publication is aimed at considering the peculiarities of the preparation of integrated reporting in terms of social and labor indicators, with a substantiation of such indicators. An analysis of functions and constituents of integrated reporting, principles of formation of integrated reporting in accordance with the international standard of integrated reporting is carried out. The composition of the management report in accordance with regulatory requirements, as well as the composition of the report on the management of a number of enterprises are analyzed. On this basis, a proposal as to the list of social and labor indicators of integrated reporting is formed and formulas for their evaluation to integrate all indicators into a single one are suggested. Using this formula, one can compare different enterprises and draw a reasonable conclusion about the work of the enterprise in this direction. In the future, the development of integrated reporting should be aimed at developing and refining the system of indicators and generalizing management provision in the process of preparing internal integrated reporting.

La legibilidad en los informes de gestión: extensión y buenas prácticas de gobierno corporativo. Este estudio expande el conocimiento sobre la legibilidad de los informes contables, su extensión y el cumplimiento de las empresas con las prácticas de buen gobierno. También cubre un vacío en el análisis de la legibilidad de la información narrativa escrita en español. Examinamos la legibilidad en los Informes de Gestión de las empresas españolas que cotizan en el Mercado Continuo de la Bolsa de Madrid durante el período 2010-2016. Los resultados revelan que los informes de gestión más extensos, es decir, aquellos con mayor cantidad de texto, son los menos legibles, y que el uso de elementos visuales en los informes ayuda a mejorar su legibilidad. Además, las empresas que siguen prácticas de buen gobierno, emiten información compleja con claridad, velocidad y simplicidad, lo que mejora la legibilidad de los informes contables. This study expands our knowledge about the readability of accounting narratives, their extension and companies’ compliance with good governance practices. It also covers a gap in the analysis of the readability of narrative information written in Spanish. We examined the readability in Management Reports of Spanish companies listed on the Continuous Market of the Madrid Stock Exchange during the period 2010–2016. The results reveal that the most extensive management reports — that is, those with the greatest quantities of text — are the least readable and that the use of visual elements in reports helps to improve their readability. Moreover, companies that follow good governance practices issue complex information with clarity, speed, and simplicity, which improves the readability of accounting narratives.

In modern conditions, the possibilities of Accounting Reporting do not meet the tasks of contentment the information needs of users of accounting data, which are aimed at obtaining evidence of the stable and sustainable functioning of both the business entity and the region where it operates, and the state as a whole. The subject of the article is the different approaches to the preparation of integrated reporting and features of the formation of indicators. Integrated corporate reporting defines a single format for providing interested consumers with information about the company's activities, risks and potential for quality services, covers financial and non-financial reporting and discloses the effectiveness of economic, environmental and social activities of the company, ensuring transparency of information on business risks and management. At present, enterprises in Ukraine compile a report that combines financial indicators and indicators that characterize some important social aspects – Management Report. The paper considers the concept of cost reporting, the key idea of which is to achieve greater informativeness of accounting indicators through corporate reporting and the development of standards of non-financial information that reflects the industry specifics of the enterprise. The purpose of the work is a detailed consideration of the essence of integrated reporting, problems of its compilation, analysis of existing approaches to the formation of indicators of integrated reporting of different companies taking into account the needs of users, justification of indicators included in integrated reporting. The study used a set of methods and approaches, such as dialectical, synthesis and comparative, systemic. The article solves such tasks as analysis of functions and components of integrated reporting, analysis of the Management Report and indicators that form it, determining the features of its preparation by different companies, the basic principles of integrated reporting in accordance with the international standard of integrated reporting. The obtained results are a detailed analysis of the indicators of the management report and the introduction of prerequisites for the effective formation of such indicators. Conclusions: Further development of integrated reporting should focus on such important aspects as the development of a system of financial and non-financial indicators, methods of obtaining information, generalization of various management systems (management accounting, monitoring, analysis of financial stability) in the preparation of internal integrated reporting.

The research is devoted to the analysis of the European and Ukrainian experience of banks’ management report audit assurance, the disclosure of the national features of such assurance using the case study of 75 state-owned banks, banks with private and foreign capital in Ukraine, and the specific features of audit verification of this report in the current crisis conditions. It was discovered that the requirements of national regulatory documents and guidelines for preparing a management report for banking institutions generally comply with the European approaches, particularly with Directive 2014/95/EU, Directive 2013/34/EU, and Directive 2014/56/EU (Legislation of EU, 2013, 2014). However, specific national requirements for the content of the report and the procedure for its audit are duplicated, intersect, and create inaccuracies in the disclosure of non-financial information by banks. Besides, the requirements for the reflection of the information on the management report in the independent auditors’ report of the studied banks of Ukraine are partially met. The common challenges for accounting and audit support for the management report for Ukrainian and European banks are disclosed in terms of the current crisis caused by global health risks and their economic consequences for banks.

The purpose of the article is to develop scientific approaches to the methodology of reporting on natural capital improving as a basis for its indicators disclosing in the context of environmental economy sustainable development. It is substantiated that switching to the system of complex state monitoring of the environment and improving the decision-making process information supporting system is possible by generating various reports, which should provide information on the use of natural capital. It is proved that in order to improve the accounting system in terms of forming an information base for environmental management and developing a mechanism for transferring information from financial to voluntary statements it is advisable to fill the financial statements on natural capital use indicators. Changes have been made to the Financial Reporting Form 1 «Balance Sheet». Schemes of transferring information from accounting records to Balance Sheet were developed. The analysis of the proposed reporting forms indicators allows us to determine changes in the value of environmental assets and sources of their formation, which will attract the attention of professionals involved in environmental activities to identify the causes that led to these changes. In order to determine the financial results of operations related to environmental activities it is proposed to amend Reporting Form 2 «Financial Statements». The conducted analysis of the food industry enterprises practical activity and stakeholders’ requests for environmental in «Management Report» by sections: rational use of water; waste management; greenhouse gas emissions; energy consumption and environmental management.

One of the directions for the development of additional disclosure of accounting information in the corporate governance system is to improve the content and the procedure for the presentation of the Management Report by corporate structures. As the European experience in reporting shows, which includes non-financial indicators, today the development of the content of the Management Report on the basis of improving its regulatory regulation is relevant taking into account the requirements and needs of stakeholders of corporate structures. The purpose of the article is to find ways to improve the Management Report as a means of additional disclosure of accounting information in corporate structures. To achieve this goal, methods of analysis and synthesis, modeling, a tabular research method were used. The relevance of the development of the content of the Management Report was substantiated based on the improvement of its regulatory regulation. The analysis of the regulatory features of the disclosure of non-financial information was carried out. As a basis for comparison, the Guidelines for the preparation of the management report, Directive 2013/34/EU and Directive 2014/95/EU were selected. The analysis of existing forms of punishment in case of non-compliance with the requirements for the publication of non-financial information in the EU countries was carried out. Proposals concerning the punishment in case of untimely disclosure, distortion or concealment of non-financial information by Ukrainian companies were submitted. The composition of indicators for such sections as "Environmental Aspects", "Social Aspects and Personnel Policy", "Research and Innovation" of the Management Report was disclosed. The result of the study is the author's suggestions for improvement the Guidelines for the preparation of a management report. In addition, the necessity of forming a common policy at the corporate structure level on the disclosure of additional accounting information in the form of financial and non-financial indicators was substantiated.

Introduction. Companies' efforts to provide information in response to stakeholder requests were embodied in the preparation of various corporate governance and management reports, which led to the development of appropriate standards in this area. At the same time, issues such as the structure of the reports accompanying the financial statements for the various stakeholders, the order of presentation and the appropriateness of including certain financial and non-financial indicators continue to be relevant. Purpose. The purpose of the study is to determine the qualitative characteristics of the management report based on an analysis of regulatory requirements for its preparation, the experience of its preparation by domestic passenger transport enterprises and comparison with the best international practices. Results. It is advisable to distinguish the qualitative characteristics of the management report on the content of the report (accuracy and completeness; objectivity and impartiality; materiality of disclosed information; relevance and comprehensibility; reasonableness and persuasiveness of conclusions), and on the form of its presentation (clarity and accuracy; logical presentation; informativeness; data visualization (graphs, tables, images, photos, etc.). The content analysis of the management reports of the domestic passenger transport enterprises has been carried out. Positive and negative aspects of these reports are revealed. They are compared with best practice. Conclusions. The preparation of the management report requires considerable management effort, in particular, the additional time spending, the involvement of qualified specialists to provide quality information coverage, including the social and environmental activities of the enterprise. Simultaneously, the regulator should generate a positive attitude in the public to disclose certain information in the management report, which will help the state and the society to take timely measures to create a more sustainable environment, to ensure accountability of enterprises and to achieve the goals of sustainable development.

The new requirements of the Law «On Accounting and Financial Reporting» demand enterprises to publish the «Management Report» in order to supplement the annual financial statements with information that should help users obtain reliable data on the results of activities, development prospects, major risks, achievement of declared objectives and strategic plans.The combination of financial and non-financial information is typical for integrated reporting, which has recently emerged in world-wide reporting practice. The article analyzes how legislative changes can sort out the issues that exist in Ukrainian reporting practice, as well as identify problems that may arise at the enterprises in the process of publishing new reporting. It is determined that in order to improve the quality of the «Management Report», western practice should be taken into account. The conclusions were made based on the comparative analysis of non-financial reports of Ukrainian and world companies. When preparing a report for an enterprise it is important to determine its form, since the form itself influences the expansion of the user’s circle, increasing their loyalty and consolidating a positive reputation at the market. The global trends of development of reporting point to the fact that integrated reporting is becoming widespread, as it accurately disclose information on cost creation in the context of six types of capital, in particular, social. In turn, the distribution of financial and non-financial reporting stops to be relevant because such reporting is not sufficiently accessible, objective and incapable of meeting the information needs of all stakeholders. Therefore, the «Management Report» can positively affect the quality of reports published by Ukrainian enterprises and contribute to the development of integrated reporting.

Unlike the vast majority of the EU member states, the Netherlands incorporated an option provided by the EU Accounting Directive that exempt companies from the obligation to file the management report with the trade register when a copy of it can be obtained from the company upon request. About 60% of the companies use this filing exemption option, but the availability of the management reports of these companies appears to be poor, because they are (very) reluctant to fulfill a request, rejecting it or do not respond to it at all. Therefore, it is interesting to examine whether the choice of how the management report is published, is associated with the level of compliance with disclosure obligations. In order to do that, we create a disclosure score based on the legal disclosure requirements. Multivariate analysis shows that disclosure compliance of management reports that are filed with the trade register is significantly higher than of those not filed but made available by the company. We also find a significant positive relationship between disclosure compliance and the length of management reports. Compliance levels appear not to be significantly associated with the timeliness of publication, company size and the size of the external auditor’s firm. Based on our research findings we advocate the removal of the filing exemption option on management reports.

The study examines the features of environmental disclosures in the management reports of medium and large enterprises of Ukraine for 2018-2019, as well as non-financial reports of leading global companies, highlights the positive aspects and problematic issues in terms of information content, provides recommendations to improve approaches to environmental disclosures and enhancement the quality and public confidence in the reports. The methodological basis of the study is Ukrainian regulatory framework and recommendations of non-governmental world organizations on environmental disclosures, comparative analysis, theoretical studies, and best practices. In the course of the research were collected and processed empirical data of 78 medium and large enterprises of 7 leading sectors of Ukraine's economy and data from some of the world's largest energy, mining, agricultural, transport, pharmaceutical, food, and construction companies. The conducted research confirms that the lack of mandatory indicators regarding disclosing environmental information and sanctions for non-provision and improper disclosure of data does not ensure transparency and comparability of reports. In order to monitor the environmental situation in Ukraine, it is recommended to disclose environmental information to all enterprises, regardless of their size; creation at the level of the regulator of a model report with the inclusion of a list of mandatory indicators of public importance and additional industry indicators; strengthening responsibility for improper information and incomplete disclosure and concealment of significant financial and non-financial environmental information; introduction of the statutory audit of management reports.

This paper examines banking industry practice in the area of circular economy reporting with the specific emphasis on waste management reporting in this sector. Paper answers the basic question - is financial service sector exempt from the circular economy reporting requirements having low material usage and resource consumption? Manuscript indicates that in Serbia waste management reporting in banks is in the early stage. Most of the waste management indicators in banks are included as integral part of sustainability reports or as part of management report. Paper indicates that less than half of the bank population in Serbia prepares standard report required by the Environmental Protection Agency. Having in mind these results, banks managers and state officials should take into consideration the fact that most of the banks do not report on flow of waste and most of these indicators are not regularly published on website implying that stakeholders and investors are not adequately informed on the inclusion of banks into circular economy environment. Lagging behind waste management requirements could be potentially hazardous having in mind the fact that Serbia strives towards European Union membership where the legislation and practical alignment with the EU regulation is inevitable process. U ovom radu istraživali smo praksu primene cirkularne ekonomije u bankarskom sektoru sa posebnim osvrtom na izveštavanje o upravljanju otpadom. Rad je pokušao da odgovori na klasično pitanje - da li je sektor finansijskih usluga kojem pripadaju i banke, izuzet od izveštavanja u kontekstu cirkularne ekonomije iz razloga što imaju nisko učešće trošenja materijala i prirodnih resursa prilikom obavljanja delatnosti? U ovom istraživanju indikativno je da u Srbiji izveštaj o upravljanju otpadom koji popunjavaju banke je u svom začetnom obliku. Najveći broj indikatora o upravljanju otpadom nalazi se u izveštaju o održivom razvoju koji banke pripremaju ili u izveštaju o poslovanju koji menadžment sastavlja radi polaganja računa stejkholderima. Istraživanje jasno ukazuje da ispod polovine banaka u Srbiji priprema standardni izveštaj koji zahteva Agencija za zaštitu životne sredine. Imajući u vidu ove rezultate, regulatori u državi, kao i menadžment banaka treba da imaju u vidu da banke ne prikazuju tokove otpada u svojim izveštajima, niti indikatore publikuju na svojim web stranicama. Ovo implicira da stejkholderi i investitori, kao važni korisnici, nisu adekvatno informisani o inkluziji banaka u sistem cirkularne ekonomije. Ukoliko i dalje budemo ostavljali po strani pitanja upravljanja otpadom, to može biti dodatni hazard imajući u vidu želju Srbije da bude punopravna članica EU gde je usklađivanje sa izuzetno obimnom regulativom u domenu upravljanja otpadom neizbežno.

The article examines the views of foreign economists on the importance of the impact of intangible assets (IA) and goodwill on business. The main purpose of this study is to improve and develop approaches of accounting for IA and goodwill, reflecting them in the financial and management reporting. The systematization of literary sources and the study of regulatory documents showed that there were several problematic issues related to the accounting and reporting of IAs and goodwill that needed elaboration and clarification. The urgency of solving this scientific problem lies in the fact that due to the existence of unresolved issues in accounting for IA and goodwill, as well as the formation of indicators in the financial statements, there is a significant gap between the methodology of accounting for these assets and current requirements of the economy. It is proposed to amend the Methodological Provisions № 417 by allocating the IA into a separate group for more detailed state statistical observation of these assets. It is recommended to separate the subaccount for accounting software showing the detailed information for this subaccount in the Notes to the Annual Financial Statements. To reconcile goodwill with the Plan of Accounts and Reporting, it is offered to set out the title of Section 1 of the Notes to the Annual Financial Statement, as follows: «Intangible Assets and Goodwill». It is recommended to keep records of internal goodwill in managerial and financial accounting, with the separation of the subaccount, with amendments to Section 1 of the Notes to the Annual Financial Statements regarding the inclusion of additional line 095 «Internal Goodwill». For management accounting of IA and goodwill, it is proposed to use the form of internal management reporting, which is based on paragraph 5 «Notes to the Annual Financial Statements», which contains additional indicators that allow the management system to identify IA s both at the respective centres of responsibility and their units, for different periods, to control the amount, direction, deviation of the planned and actual expenses at the receipt of IA, etc. It is recommended to open an additional subaccount for accounting for IAs shortages with the disclosure in the Annex to Methodological Recommendations № 1327 of the procedure for accounting for IAs shortages using this subaccount. It is justified that the Management Report should be considered as a supplement to the financial statements. The management report proposes to disclose the information about the IA and, if available, about goodwill (internal goodwill), and to provide information aimed at the development of intellectual capital. У статті розглянуто погляди зарубіжних економістів щодо важливості впливу нематеріальних активів (НМА) та гудвілу на бізнес. Основною метою проведеного дослідження є удосконалення і розробка підходів до обліку НМА та гудвілу, їх відображення у фінансовій і управлінській звітності. Систематизація літературних джерел і вивчення нормативних документів засвідчила, що існує низка проблемних питань пов’язаних з відображенням в обліку і звітності НМА та гудвілу, які потребують розробки і уточнень. Актуальність вирішення цієї наукової проблеми полягає в тому, що через існування невирішених питань в обліку НМА та гудвілу, а також формування показників у фінансовій звітності відбувається значний розрив між методологією обліку цих активів і сучасними вимогами економіки. Запропоновано внести зміни в Методологічні положення № 417 шляхом виокремлення НМА в окрему групу для більш деталізованого державного статистичного спостереження за цими активами. Рекомендовано виокремити субрахунок для обліку програмного забезпечення з відображенням детальної інформації по даному субрахунку в Примітках до річної фінансової звітності. З метою узгодження відображення гудвілу у Плані рахунків і звітності запропоновано викласти назву 1 Розділу Приміток до річної фінансової звітності у такій редакції «Нематеріальні активи та гудвіл». Рекомендовано вести облік внутрішнього гудвілу в управлінському і фінансовому обліку з виокремленням окремого субрахунку із внесенням змін до 1 Розділу Приміток до річної фінансової звітності у частині включення додаткового рядка 095 «Внутрішній гудвіл». Для ведення управлінського обліку НМА та гудвілу запропоновано використовувати форму внутрішньої управлінської звітності в основу, якої покладена ф.5 «Примітки до річної фінансової звітності», що містить додаткові показники, які дозволяють системі управління ідентифікувати НМА як за відповідними центрами відповідальності, так і за їх підрозділами, за різними періодами часу, контролювати обсяг, напрям, відхилення планових і фактичних витрат при надходженні НМА тощо. Рекомендовано для обліку нестач НМА відкрити додатковий субрахунок з розкриттям в Додатку до Методичних рекомендацій № 1327 порядку обліку нестач НМА із використанням цього субрахунку. Обґрунтовано, що Звіт про управління необхідно вважати інформаційним доповненням до фінансової звітності. В звіті про управління запропоновано розкривати інформацію про НМА і за наявності про гудвіл (внутрішній гудвіл), а також наводити інформацію направлену на розвиток інтелектуального капіталу.

Despite the fact that obligations to publish reports on corporate social responsibility will come into force in the European Union from 2018, an increasing number of companies are starting to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy into their everyday business practices, and as a result the information of this activity is disclosed in CSR reports or within annual reports. As the disclosure of such information is currently voluntarily based, we believe that the growing popularity of CSR leads to a direct link between the sustainability of the company and its financial performance. The purpose of this paper is therefore to determine the linkage between CSR and financial performance within two countries in the CEE region – Czech and Estonia – using data from 2012 - 2013. We compare return on assets and normalized market value added of listed companies. Based on the results, we can state that the implementation of a standalone CSR report does not have any direct linkage with the financial performance of the tested companies.

Mere knowledge that the company has acquired own shares is not always of great importance. Information on the acquisition of own shares from dissenting shareholders or the squeeze-out of minority shareholders is not of great importance to the users of financial statements. In the first case, it is far more significant to disclose the significant event that allowed dissenting shareholders to resign from the company. However, the purchase of own shares due to certain reasons, such as the purchase of own shares at a premium in order to influence the market value of shares, the repurchase focused on preventing greater harm to the company, which is especially true at a time of financial crisis, or the repurchase of own shares as a means of disbursing shareholders, is of great importance to the users of financial statements. Therefore, modern legislation in developed countries obliges companies to disclose a range of information regarding own shares, including the reasons for the acquisition. The above is also proscribed by the relevant EU directives and national legislation. The paper points out that the legal norms governing the obligation of reporting on own shares in Serbia are not harmonized and that most public companies in Serbia, despite the legal obligation, do not disclose the reasons for the acquisition of own shares.

This paper deals with Brazilian empirical research published in journals between 2000 and mid-2015 that used, as a source of data, the Management Reports (MRs) released by publicly-traded companies together with their financial statements. MRs differ from each other, both in form as well as in substance, and due to this as well as to their other characteristics, they prove attractive for academic studies interested in official company discourse, more so because they involve documents that are public and retrievable over time, covering a substantial range of typically larger companies from different economic sectors. Driven by these characteristics, the goal of this study was to understand the way the academic world understands and uses the MR. The paper favored an interpretivist viewpoint, but used the triangulation allowed by the use of qualitative (content analysis) and quantitative (statistical, sociometric, and bibliometric analyses) methods. It was concluded that, for the core group of experts who dealt with the document, the MR is biased, incomplete, questionable, unclear, laborious, uncertain, but also useful - in the absence of another -, comprehensive, available, and retrievable over time. And it lends itself to the interest of company directors by increasing their value and at the same time legitimizing their companies, incorporating into discourse the use of contemporary management practices, consistent with the expectations of stakeholders. Finally, it suggests the possibility, unexplored in the articles analyzed, of employing the MR to study the dynamics of the institutionalization of administrative practices among companies in the country. RESUMO Este trabalho lida com as investigações empíricas brasileiras publicadas em periódicos entre 2000 e meados de 2015 e que utilizaram - como fonte de dados - o Relatório da Administração (RA) divulgado pelas empresas de capital aberto junto com as demonstrações financeiras. Os RA são diversos entre si, tanto na substância quanto na forma, constituindo-se, por essa e por suas outras características, em atrativo para pesquisas acadêmicas interessadas no discurso oficial das empresas, ainda mais sendo aqueles documentos públicos e recuperáveis ao longo do tempo, cobrindo uma gama considerável de empresas, tipicamente, de maior porte, de diversos setores econômicos. Compelido por tais atributos, o objetivo deste estudo foi apreender a forma com que a academia científica entende e utiliza o RA. O trabalho privilegiou a ótica interpretativista, mas recorreu à triangulação permitida pelo uso de métodos qualitativos (análise de conteúdo) e quantitativos (análises estatísticas, sociométricas e bibliométricas). Concluiu-se que, para o grupo central de especialistas que lidaram com o documento, o RA é enviesado, incompleto, contestável, dúbio, trabalhoso, incerto, mas também útil - na falta de outro -, abrangente, disponível e recuperável ao longo do tempo; e se presta ao interesse dos diretores de empresas em, simultaneamente, valorizar-se e legitimar as suas companhias, incorporando em discurso o emprego de práticas contemporâneas de gestão, coerentes com as expectativas daqueles destinatários dos RA. Ao final, sugere-se a possibilidade, não explorada nos artigos analisados, de empregar o RA para acompanhar a dinâmica da institucionalização de práticas administrativas entre as empresas do país.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to assess the compliance with the characteristic of the relevance of disclosure in Management Reports, particularly dealing with Human Capital (HC) information.Design/methodology/approach: We codify all instances where narratives of IBEX-35 stock index companies over a five year period in Spain comply with the recommendations for a “high quality” Management Commentary (MC) in terms of the relevance characteristic of the information disclosed (IASB, 2005).Findings: The analysis results show that a greater quantity of information about HC in terms of the number of pages devoted is not always indicative of higher quality in terms of relevance if we look for the application of IASB recommendations.Research limitations/implications: Further research could assess compliance with other qualitative characteristics required by other standards or guidances that were internationaly generaly accepted.Practical implications: Among the areas that require improvement in HC disclosures we highlight forward-looking information.Social implications: We propose that an internationally accepted agreement must be struck to unite all the efforts that are being made to improve narrative information in the MC section, and specifically with reference to HC.Originality/value: This work compiles the HC disclosures identified as best practices that may serve as a reference to other companies.

This paper deals with the impact of voluntary strategy disclosure in management reports on the cost of equity capital. Such an impact is not obvious, as investors might consider strategy information as “cheap talk” and therefore ignore it. We analyze a sample of 100 German listed firms from 2002 to 2008, measuring strategy disclosure levels using hand-collected strategy disclosure scores. We find that higher disclosure levels are, on average, associated with lower cost of equity capital even after controlling for overall disclosure quality. The paper contributes to the field by providing evidence that voluntary strategy disclosures in firms’ management reports reduce the information asymmetry component of cost of capital and therefore can be considered as a relevant source of information for investors.