What the book does
King and Atkins argue that the accountant’s role should move beyond reporting financial capital to reporting value. Drawing on integrated reporting practice and the King governance codes, they make the case for a Chief Financial Officer to become a Chief Value Officer, and for accounts to reflect the creation or erosion of value across six resources: financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and natural (The 6 Capital Model).
What it changes in practice
It changes the questions directors ask when the board pack arrives. When reading management accounts, I now look at what they tell me about the resources the organisation depends on but does not own: its people, its licence to operate, its relationships, its data. If those drivers of value are absent or weakly measured, the issue belongs not only in the accounts discussion, but also in risk, strategy, and committee questioning.
Why I recommend it
I recommend it for the shift it asks of my own profession. The traditional finance role reports what happened to the money. King and Atkins argue that the same role should also report the drivers and detractors of value across the business. This broadens the CFO’s role from steward of the accounts to steward of the resources the business depends on. For me, that is a better description of what the job has already become, than the one in most finance job specifications.
A limitation is that the book predates today’s more developed sustainability reporting landscape. Its Six Capitals approach remains valuable, although translating the less tangible capitals into consistent measures can be challenging.
Who it suits
Best for finance directors, audit and risk committee members, and NEDs interested in value creation beyond financial reporting.
Recommended by
Tom Noel, NEDness Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer