Abstract
The recent European Directive 2014/95/EU, also called the non-financial reporting directive, defines the rules on disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by large companies. Considering that nowadays CFOs are increasingly pressured and involved in corporate reporting, this research aims at exploring the role of CFO within non-financial disclosure (NFD) by the means of three cases using pilot interviews. The broad research question addressed is “What is the role played by the CFO (or controller) in the non-financial information process?”. Our findings provide some preliminary evidence on the relationships between the internal and external perspective, i.e., management accounting and NFD, but further research is still needed in this sense. Overall our evidence highlight that NFD is part of an evolution process in which many factors intervene and determine its final success: from the skills of the CFO (or controller) to the characteristics of the sector, from the degree of involvement of the CEO to the pressure of external stakeholders, and from the presence of a pre-existing corporate culture to the organization itself.
While the chapter is the result of a joint effort of the authors, the individual contributions are as follows: Andrea Tenucci wrote Sects. 1, 3, and 5; Elisa Rita Ferrari wrote Sect. 2; Sara Trucco wrote Sect. 4.1; Maria Chiara Demartini wrote Sect. 4.2; and Valentina Beretta wrote Sect. 4.3.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahrens, T., & Chapman, C. S. (2007). Doing qualitative field research in management accounting: Positioning data to contribute to theory. In C. S. Chapman, A. G. Hopwood, & M. D. Shields (Eds.), Handbook of management accounting research (Vol. I). Elsevier.
Allegrini, M. (2005). Il CFO italiano. Funzioni assegnate e posizionamento organizzativo. Un’indagine empirica. Atti del Convegno Nazionale ANDAF. Tenerife.
BHEF, Gallup, PwC. (2017). Investing in America’s data science and analytics talent.
Campra, M., Esposito, P., & Lombardi, R. (2020). The engagement of stakeholders in non-financial reporting: New information-pressure, stimuli, inertia, under short-termism in the banking industry. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 16, 94–107.
Chava, S., & Purnanandam, A. (2007). Determinants of the floating-to-fixed rate debt structure of firms. Journal of Financial Economics, 85(3), 755–786.
Chelli, M., Durocher, S., & Fortin, A. (2018). Normativity in environmental reporting: A comparison of three regimes. Journal of Business Ethics, 149(2), 285–311.
Cohen, R., Holder-Webb, L., Zamora, V., & L. (2015). Non-financial preferences of professional investors. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 27(2), 127–153.
D’Andrea, A. (2020). Il principio di <materiality> nell’informativa non-finanziaria. Giappichelli.
De Villiers, C., Hsiao, P. C. K., & Maron, W. (2017). Developing a conceptual model of influences around integrated reporting, new insights and directions for the future research. Meditari Accounting Research, 25, 450–460.
Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament of the Council of 22 October 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non financial information and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups.
Doni, F., Bianchi Martini, S., Corvino, A., & Mazzoni, M. (2019). Voluntary versus mandatory non-financial disclosure: EU Directive 95/2014 and sustainability reporting practices based on empirical evidence from Italy. Meditari Accounting Research, 28(5), 781–802.
Dumay, J. (2016). A critical reflection on the future of intellectual capital: From reporting to disclosure. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 17(1), 168–184.
Dumay, J., & Dai, T. (2017). Integrated thinking as a cultural control. Meditari Accounting Research, 25, 574–604.
Erkens, M., Paugam, L., & Stolowy, H. (2015). NOn-financial information: State of the art and research perspectives based on a bibliometric study. Compatibilité-Contrôle-Audit, 21(3), 15–92.
Farag, H., Plaschke, F., & Rodt, M. (2011). Evolving capital markets and the changing role of the CFO. In The strategic CFO (pp. 127–142). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Ge, W., Matsumoto, D., & Zhang, J. L. (2011). Do CFOs have style? An empirical investigation of the effect of individual CFOs on accounting practices. Contemporary Accounting Research, 28(4), 1141–1179.
Geiger, M. A., & North, D. S. (2006). Does hiring a new CFO change things? An investigation of changes in discretionary accruals. The Accounting Review, 81(4), 781–809.
Gould, S. (2020). Revisiting the Question “Should a CFO be an Accountant?”. https://www.ifac.org/knowledge-gateway/preparing-future-ready-professionals/discussion/revisiting-question-should-cfo-beaccountant
Guthrie, J., & Parker, L. D. (1990). Corporate social disclosure practice: A comparative international analysis. Advances in Public Interest Accounting, 3, 159–175.
Hall, M., Millo, Y., & Barman, E. (2015). Who and what really counts? Stakeholders prioritization and Accounting for social value. Journal of Management Studies., 57(7), 907–934.
Haller, A., Link, M., & Groβ, T. (2017). The term “non-financial information”—a semantic analysis of a key feature of current and future corporate reporting. Accounting in Europe, 14(3), 407–429.
IFAC. (2013). The role and expectations of a CFO—A global debate on preparing accountants for finance leadership. https://www.ifac.org/system/files/publications/files/Role%20of%20the%20CFO.pdf
Incollingo, A. (2014). Le prime esperienze di bilancio integrato: Analisi e riflessioni. Giappichelli.
Izzo, M. F., Dello Strologo, A., & Granà, F. (2020). Learning from the best: New challenges and trends in IR Reporters’ disclosure and the role of SDGs. Sustainability, 12(14), 1–22.
Jiang, J., Petroni, K., & Wang, I. Y. (2010). CFOs and CEOs: Who has the most influence on earnings management? Journal of Financial Economics, 96(3), 513–526.
La Torre, M., Sabelfeld, S., Blomkvist, M., Tarquinio, L., & Dumay, J. (2018). Harmonising non-financial reporting regulation in Europe: Practical forces and projection for future research. Meditari Accountancy Research, 26(4), 598–621.
LeBlanc, B. (2012). Sustainability rises on the CFO’s “to-do”list. Financial Executive, 28, 54–57.
Manes Rossi, F., Tiron Tudor, A., Nicolò, G., & Zanellato, G. (2018). Ensuring more sustainable reporting in Europe using non-financial disclosure—De facto e de jure evidence. Sustainability, 10, 1162.
Mannozzi, R. (2010). Il CFO nell’affrontare la crisi: una valida opportunità di evoluzione del ruolo. Amministrazione & Finanza, 7, 21–24.
Markota, N. V., Vucović, R., & Calace, D. (2017). Non-financial reporting as a new trend in sustainability accounting. Journal of Accounting and Management, 07(02), 13–26.
McKinsey. (2016). Are today’s CFOs ready for tomorrow’s demands on finance?
Mian, S. (2001). On the choice and replacement of chief financial officers. Journal of Financial Economics, 60(1), 143–175.
Mitchell, R. K., Van Buren, H. J., Greenwood, M., & Freeman, R. E. (2015). Stakeholder inclusion and accounting for stakeholders. Journal of Management Studies, 53(7), 851–877.
Passetti, E., Cinquini, L., & Tenucci, A. (2018). Implementing internal environmental management and voluntary environmental disclosure. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 31(4), 1145–1173.
Ryan, B., Scapens, R. W., & Theobald, M. (2002). Research method & methodology in finance & accounting. Thomson.
Stubbs, W., & Higgins, C. (2018). Stakeholders’ perspectives on the role of regulatory reform in integrated reporting. Journal of Business Ethics, 147(3), 489–508.
Veltri, S., De Luca, F., & Phan, H. T. P. (2020). Do investors value companies’ mandatory non financial risk disclosure? An empirical analysis of the Italian context after the EU Directive. Business Strategy and Environment, 29, 1–12.
Venturelli, A., Caputo, F., Cosma, S., Leopizzi, R., & Pizzi, S. (2017). Directive 2014/95/EU: Are Italian companies already compliant? Sustainability, 9(8), 1–19.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research design and methods (5th ed.). Sage.
Zecchi, S. (2010). Il mondo dopo la crisi: nuove competenze per il CFO. Amministrazione & Finanza, 10, 11–16.
Zoni, L., & Pippo, F. (2017). CFO and finance function: What matters in value creation. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 13(2), 216–238.
Zorn, D. M. (2004). Here a chief, there a chief: The rise of the CFO in the American firm. American Sociological Review., 69(3), 345–364.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Beretta, V., Demartini, M.C., Ferrari, E.R., Tenucci, A., Trucco, S. (2022). The Role of CFO and Controller in the Non-financial Information Process: Preliminary Results from an Exploratory Study. In: Cinquini, L., De Luca, F. (eds) Non-financial Disclosure and Integrated Reporting. SIDREA Series in Accounting and Business Administration. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90355-8_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90355-8_25
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-90354-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-90355-8
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)