This study empirically assesses the disclosure of nonfinancial information in corporate reporting. In examining the contents of annual and board reports for 50 listed corporations, a coding sheet was developed by combining the two coding sheets of Boshnak and the European Directive 2014/95/EU. All corporations in three sectors—energy, utilities, and materials, which collectively represents 85.51% of the Saudi market capitalization—encompass the sample. Results reveal that employees, community, and products and services information have a moderate disclosure level. In contrast, environmental, customers, and fighting corruption have a low level. The findings also show that nonfinancial disclosure of the selected sectors on average range between 28.85% for the corporations in the material sector to 39.22% for the corporations in utilities sector. The corporations in the energy sector scored, on average, 37.65%. The mean for the entire sample of the ratios of disclosed nonfinancial items is 30.35%. However, the average disclosure level is without substantial improvement since 2012 and 2013, as previously reported The Capital Market Authority (CMA) is recommended to mandate nonfinancial information disclosure. It is a step toward realization aspects of Saudi Vision 2030 concerning with, for instance, protecting environment and other related matters.

The literature in the field of accounting establishes that accounting actively changes due to its adaptability to new roles and its fulfilling of functions that members of diverse societies have needed. While accounting is a means that has assisted humans in monitoring resources and holding delegated individuals who administer such resources accountable, it is, however, also being tested to account for human activities with nature. In practice, users of corporate reports need to be informed about the sustainability of the firms in which they invest. Inquiring about sustainability is understudied and experiences low voluntary disclosure. Since reporting on sustainability embraces financial and non-financial disclosure, this study brings to attention the enterprise concept that best fits the conceptualization of accounting at this current time, enabling the accounting profession to meet the urgent ecological, environmental, and social needs of society from reporting entities, primarily those entities whose beneficiaries are part of society. Accounting is the only tool that a business possesses to monitor its internal affairs, administer its external relations, and assess its performance. Adopting the enterprise theory enables accounting to maintain its superiority as a device that meets the emerging needs of business and society. In this regard, accounting is a sustainable profession, because it maintains its existence by assisting corporations in meeting the obligations that they owe toward members of their society and reporting the impact of their actions on members of society at large.

Corporate performance is a key in corporate accounting. One of the earliest accounting measures of corporate performance is accounting income. Accrual accounting enables the measurement of changes in net assets of an entity. Accounting income is neither scientifically determined nor proven. Accounting information often results from approximation and estimation when choice among alternatives is professionally judged, rather than exact measures and perceptions. Divergence in application of accounting policies in corporations under similar conditions may present different results. Some criticize corporate accounting, particularly after scandals related to financial statement fraud, for choices among procedures that accounting standards permit. However, choices in the application of accounting permitted procedures that accounting standards allow are based on professional judgment. Professional judgment enables accounting as a profession and allows accounting professionals to claim status in their respective communities. Exploring users’ awareness of corporate reports in Saudi Arabia in terms of flexibility in using accounting methods when preparing corporate reports and analyzing their understanding of corporate reports, this study surveyed 72 financial statement users. Research has found that sufficient efforts must be made to obtain information when making investment decisions. As accounting income is a result of applied accounting procedures and methods, users perceive information published in the financial reports, including notes, as understandable. Flexibility in applying accounting standards is imperative for adapting to changes in the entity’s business environment. Potential capital market investors must maintain a minimum level of knowledge; otherwise, they might be gambling their wealth or savings against the odds.

Elements of corporate governance must be activated at all scales for the efficient functioning of a nation’s capital market. The effectiveness of the board of directors depends on factors related to, for example, the composition of the board and its independence. This study aims to investigate empirically whether the board of directors is an effective mechanism for monitoring managers in Saudi Arabia through a survey. A questionnaire that was developed and employed by Elyas (2015) is utilized for data collection after modifying it and judging its appropriateness. We targeted individuals who had relevant experience as members of the board of directors as our respondents. Only 29 subjects took the survey. The results indicate that the respondents generally disagree with the survey items, pointing out the ineffectiveness of the board of directors in monitoring executive management. Although the subjects’ credible experience can be assumed, the generalizability of our research findings is limited because of the low number of respondents.

Several efforts have been made towards basing the practices of corporate accounting on reasoning. This article critiques Understanding Mattessich and Ijiri: A Study of Accounting Thought to expand some of the topics currently relevant to the accounting discourse. The following two claims may be needed for further clarification. Mattessich’s and Ijiri’s presuppositions towards reality actually contribute to reality, as each one of them perceived it as an objective construct, but this idea is challenged in this article. In conceptualizing the practice of accounting, Mattessich may not explain how corporate accounting is perceived. A suitable extension of the book’s topic is thus discussing positive accounting research, elitism in accounting research. More sources on the topics of ‘accounting sociology’ by applying the theory of elitism, ‘positive accounting research’, and ‘citation analysis’ are provided as well. Reading the book may be deemed for accounting researchers trained in the positive traditions as a voyage in ‘the land of wonder,’ but is nonetheless thought-provoking.