The annual corporate report is more than a report on the results from the last operating year in the company

During the past few decades, there has been a tremendous shift in the source of GDP, whereby we have moved away from a dependency on traditional manufacturing‐based sectors to one of economic value creation that encompasses service items and intangible‐based output (Petty & Guthrie, 2000). The most successful and profitable companies today could be found among such retailers as Wal‐Mart and H&M, as well as other companies that are strongly dependent on human and intellectual factors for doing business. Yet, how is this change captured in the accounting field? The annual corporate report is more than a report on the results from the last operating year in the company. It could also be seen as a means by which a corporation locates and identifies itself with various external and internal stakeholders. However, even if intellectual capital has a very strong impact on the drivers of future earnings in the most successful companies, it is largely ignored in financial reports or in annual corporate reports.