'Differing views' threaten transparency
PricewaterhouseCoopers is facing a growing internal struggle over whether to publish detailed financial reports even as it attempts to demonstrate to clients the benefits of greater disclosure.
Announcing this year’s case studies – based on the firm’s ValueReporting model -David Phillips, PwC partner in charge of spearheading better corporate reporting, told Accountancy Age: ‘I would love PwC to be involved in it [corporate reporting], but we are a partnership with greatly differing views. The biggest challenge is inside our organisations.’
Of the Big Five accounting firms only KPMG and Ernst & Young voluntarily publish annual financial reports. There is no legal obligation for partnerships to provide external financial data.
ValueReporting supports the theory that companies communicating information on intangibles and other non-financial data enjoy lower cost capital and increased share prices.
Although PwC does not depend on investors to grow the business, stakeholder interests are just as crucial to the partnership.
Phillips said: ‘It is in the best interests of companies to keep their shareholders and other stakeholders on board longer-term by making this information more visible.’
Links
Why PwC needs to adopt its own principles first
PwC calls for corporate transparency