Intangibles reporting in search of an answer
The gap between what companies are worth and what their financial statements capture has drawn a burst of activity this autumn, with new reports from CPA Australia and the UK Endorsement Board (UKEB), and the launch of a global valuation network.
CPA Australia’s Intangibles Summit 2026 report calls on the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to improve disclosure of technology-related intangibles such as data, software, cloud arrangements and AI capabilities. It wants standardised labels, clearer disaggregation of research and development (R&D) and software spend, and better connectivity between financial, sustainability and narrative reporting.
The UKEB’s case-studies feedback report reaches similar conclusions from a different angle. Workshops with preparers, investors, academics and firms explored four intangible items, covering training costs, R&D, carbon credits and data. Participants kept returning to the same knots: identifying the underlying asset and the role of the business model. Most backed better disclosure, though many doubted it alone could fix comparability.
Both reports point to a shared challenge across borders: IAS 38 Intangible Assets was built for a world of separable assets, not interconnected digital capabilities, and investors can’t see enough information to judge what modern companies are really worth.
One piece of the puzzle may be the newly launched Intangible Asset Valuation Network (IAVN), co-founded by the International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Trademark Association (INTA) as a three-year pilot to build globally consistent valuation practices. Valuation, disclosure and digitisation are three sides of the same coin: you can’t compare what you can’t consistently label.
Read the CPA Australia report here, the UKEB report here, and more on the IAVN here.
