Today, it is very important for enterprises to be evaluated positively, to be credible, loyal and reliable in their performance of actions, which will be estimated by others not only from the economic but also social perspective. In view of the fact that non-financial information has a growing impact on the financial results of entities and the share of intangible assets in corporate property is rising, it is difficult to undermine the merits of the decision on introducing the obligation to draw up non-financial statements for public interest entities. With the requirement to annually present activities undertaken in designated areas (environmental, social and employee-related matters, anti-corruption), the obligation of non-financial reporting may raise entities’ sensitivity to and awareness of those matters. The adoption of a policy in this area in the form of a document will allow entities to structure and systematize the initiatives pursued.
In this chapter, the scope and manner of presentation of the sustainable issues in non-financial statement are presented. The objectives of this chapter are as follows: first, an overview of non-financial reporting and its historical development are presented. Finally, this chapter will provide an overview of the new trends and challenges of non-financial reporting.