Agendas are generally about information, which is in turn driven by expectation, growth, innovation and notions of sustainability
Agendas are also influenced by the externalities to the Business such as how they are perceived to be governed and the regulatory constraints on them as well as responding to Stakeholder expectations
Other drivers of Agenda are managerial desires to control the internal business processes rather than report the externalities.
So who is driving the Accountancy agenda?, is this a classic example of the dichotomy between top down and bottom up approaches, or are we talking about different levels of Accounting information and that there may be information at Board level which philosophically is different from information at operational, level and is there a mis- match in the organisation that highlights this dual process, or in fact are is this information perfectly consistent?
Is the underlying assumption that the leaders of the business are the ones that are determining the business aims and objectives at every level and have we taken an unbiased view of these and ensured that they best serve the business in pursuit of the vision? And if the vision changes, how swiftly can we introduce new Accountancy based information to support the vision?
Does this all depend on what Accounting systems we have in place and that measures like staff wellbeing or institutional well being actually are aligned with the overall purpose of shareholder value creation?
As we all come under increasing pressure to change due to economic circumstances, globalisation or indeed technological changes , are we keeping tabs on the reports we produce and why we want to measure performance and the fact that we are in a continual dynamic state which means continual revision of accounting output and keeping a weather eye on the externalities.
In view of this, what accounting systems do we have that puts in review processes that ensures the current information is fit for purpose and that the Agenda is properly accounted (for)?
