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CIMA's survey finds that as there is a worldwide move toward ‘integrative’ reporting incorporating non-financial as well as financial data, management accountants are ideally placed to collaborate with senior management in producing fully integrated reports, reflecting sustainable strategies adopted by organisations which fulfill the needs of stakeholder groups.

Key findings include:

• Companies need to have management accountants in strategy-setting roles in order to achieve the best sustainability outcomes.
• Many management accountants are fulfilling their traditional role of financial specialist but not yet acting as collaborators in driving toward sustainability as a goal.
• CIMA members have a higher rate of accountants participating in sustainability strategies than non-member companies but it is still a minority (12%) compared to the role of the managing director, environmental, human resources and marketing managers.
• Like any other aspect of business, collection and analysis of good, issue-specific data is crucial to sustainability decisions. Sustainability requires accountants to monitor and manage non-traditional data to guide strategic decisions. Management accountants are ideally placed to fulfill this role. 
• Sustainability does not appear to be a good fit with annual reporting. Interviewees expressed a desire for a new way to report and some organisations had come up with innovative solutions, including electronic media. 

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