In Search of Double Materiality in Non-Financial Reports: First Empirical Evidence

Materiality is the key principle that drives the selection of issues that companies must report on. The European Union regulation on companies’ non-financial disclosure coined a special meaning of materiality that holistically combines the two perspectives of financial and impact materiality into an overall “double materiality” (DM). The contrast detected between the early debate and the low level of empirical knowledge on DM provided by the literature on materiality disclosure gave rise to our research aim, which was to map the pioneering experiences of DM. In order to achieve this aim, we carried out an exploratory analysis on the non-financial reports of 58 companies, both European and non-European, operating in various industries (period 2019–2021). The results reveal “traces” of DM in the reports of few companies, mainly European ones. The aspects we examined, both with atomistic and summative perspectives of inquiry, highlight variety in both double materiality assessments and adoption disclosures, as well as related criticalities. This foreshadows a fragmented landscape of materiality analysis disclosure over the next few years that presently requires great attention and increased operational guidance by the international standard setters involved. The article closes by proposing implications, limitations and research perspectives

Verso un sistema contabile economico-patrimoniale: prime evidenze empiriche nell'ambito delle università pubbliche italiane

Questo contributo si propone di analizzare gli effetti attesi dalla riforma contabile introdotta attraverso la cd. Legge Gelmini nelle università pubbliche italiane, nel corso della prima fase di adozione sperimentale della contabilità economico-patrimoniale. Allo scopo, è stata condotta un’analisi empirica, mediante somministrazione di un questionario, al fine di rilevare le opinioni preliminari dei soggetti che in primis dovranno dare concreta attuazione alle nuove norme contabili: i responsabili dell’area contabilità e bilancio degli atenei pubblici italiani. I risultati emersi indicano che, nonostante l'individuazione di alcune interessanti potenzialità del nuovo sistema contabile, gli intervistati manifestano nel complesso un'opinione critica sulle modalità con cui il processo di riforma è attuato, dimostrandosi scettici sulla reale portata che il cambiamento contabile potrà manifestare

Accounting costs without a cost accounting system: the case of a small Italian winery of excellence

The need to face growing competition, especially from emerging countries, and the uncertainty of performance, influenced by economic, climatic and environmental conditions, require wineries to accurately determine and control the costs of their products. However, many of them are small-sized, often family-run businesses (such as in Italy), and may not be able to afford to implement cost accounting systems. In this context, this study proposes a model to determine the full cost of a bottle of wine, starting from financial accounting information. To this end, the case of a small-sized, family-run, Italian winery of excellence is analysed. The originality of this paper lies in its theoretical and practical implications. Within this stream of research, it provides a contribution to tackle the accounting and evaluating issues raised by such a product. Moreover, it can be used by wineries and insurance companies to improve their knowledge on the wine production cost

Le cause dell'indebitamento e il risanamento dell'esposizione debitoria

Il lavoro esplora le cause dell'indebitamento aziendale e il risanamento dell'esposizione debitoria