SASB and IMA Announce Memorandum of Understanding

Partnership focuses on accelerating the uptake of accounting standards to improve non-financial disclosure

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Feb 02, 2016, 08:47 ET

SAN FRANCISCO and MONTVALE, N.J., Feb. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board™ (SASB™) and IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants) today announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance the management and disclosure of non-financial information in corporate reports.

The MoU, signed by SASB Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jean Rogers and IMA President and CEO Jeff Thomson, CMA, CAE, outlines the basis for ongoing cooperation, collaboration and alignment between the two organizations. Among other measures, SASB and IMA agree to identify ways by which the thought leadership of the two organizations can be aligned to strengthen value creation, corporate reporting and disclosure, as well as take proactive measures to share the work of the other organization.

Performance on non-financial issues, including sustainability, impacts the financial performance of companies, and as such, is becoming a larger part of the role of accountants and financial professionals. IMA – as a global accounting association focused on the mutual dependency of accounting, finance, operations, technology, strategy, standards, ethics and leadership in the value chain – is uniquely positioned to help its members understand and prepare for this evolution.

SASB's sustainability accounting standards, which help companies measure and manage the sustainability factors most likely to drive value, and Implementation Guide, which help companies integrate SASB standards into their existing systems, are a resource for IMA members to help their companies succeed in this new business environment.

"Management accountants have long been at the forefront of measuring and reporting relevant information, including non-financial data, that drives value," said Rogers. "The partnership between SASB and IMA is an important step to help management accountants identify, measure and manage non-financial factors that affect financial performance."

Commenting on the MoU, Thomson added, "Sustainability disclosure is an increasingly important issue among investors and other stakeholders. Alongside financial data, information about a company's performance in the short-, medium- and long-term is increasingly important to describe and evaluate value creation capacity and sustainability. With this MoU, SASB and IMA hope to educate and train stakeholders in the area of sustainability reporting driven by value and relevance."

About SASB
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board™ (SASB)™ is an independent 501(c)3 organization that issues industry-specific standards for use in disclosing material sustainability information in filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP, and Mary Schapiro, former SEC chairman, serve as chair and vice chair of SASB's Board of Directors, and Dr. Jean Rogers serves as Founder and CEO. More than 2,800 individuals representing $23.4T assets under management and $11T market capital have participated in multi-stakeholder industry working groups informing standards development. For more information about SASB, visit www.sasb.org, or follow us on YouTube, Twitter or LinkedIn.

About IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants)
IMA^®, the association of accountants and financial professionals in business, is one of the largest and most respected associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. Globally, IMA supports the profession through research, the CMA^® (Certified Management Accountant) program, continuing education, networking and advocacy of the highest ethical business practices. IMA has a global network of more than 80,000 members in 140 countries and 300 professional and student chapters. Headquartered in Montvale, N.J., USA, IMA provides localized services through its four global regions: The Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and Middle East/Africa. For more information about IMA, please visit www.imanet.org.