DRSC and Bertelsmann Stiftung publish White Paper on the new Reporting Requirement on Intangible Resources

The Accounting Standards Committee of Germany (DRSC) and Bertelsmann Stiftung have jointly published the White Paper “Intangible Resources as Value Drivers for (Sustainable) Business – Challenges and Opportunities of the New Reporting Requirements”. The authors, Isabel von Keitz (Professor of Business Administration, in particular Accounting at Münster University of Applied Sciences) and Kristina Schwedler (Research Director at DRSC), discuss both the need for improved reporting on intangible resources and ways of implementing the new reporting requirements in accordance with CSRD. Detailed information can be found on the Bertelsmann Stiftung project website (German only).

To mark the publication of the White Paper, a discussion event will be held at the Bertelsmann Stiftung in Berlin on October 20, 2023. Together with academia, preparers and users of the reports, the new reporting requirements on intangible resources will be discussed in detail. Further information on the event can be found here: Invitation to the Discussion Event – Future of Sustainability (German only).

Background: The European Union’s regulatory architecture for a more sustainable economy stipulates increased reporting requirements. These are intended to create transparency and comparability as well as to promote the transformation of corporate activities. A central component are the new reporting requirements on intangible resources in accordance with the Accounting Directive as amended by the CSRD, which include financial and sustainability-related aspects. With this White Paper, DRSC and Bertelsmann Stiftung would like to contribute to the discussion on the implementation of this new reporting regulation.

Georg Lanfermann, President of the DRSC, commented on the publication of the White Paper as follows: “Practitioners need a clear understanding of the reporting requirements on intangible value drivers. The White Paper published jointly with the Bertelsmann Stiftung provides an important contribution in this regard.”