Transparency in financial reporting: conceptual evidence

Abstract

The current business environment, in continuous competition, requires responsibility towards the business partners. More and more economic entities adopt ethical behaviour in the business environment and have constant preoccupations regarding transparent conduct. The increased level of technology and information of the company has changed the reporting standards, the volume and the quality of the information requested from the market, from the businessmen. Because transparency is very important in gaining trust, it is necessary to know the term, the implications of transparency on the business environment, the ways of ensuring it, as well as the factors that affect it. In this context, the paper aims to identify the current state of knowledge about transparency, and the interest of researchers for the study of the benefits and challenges specific to financial transparency, through a systematic review of the literature archived on the Scopus platform. We have found that transparency in the financial and non-financial reporting of economic entities has been the subject of many studies, in the academic community, in order to clarify the concept or to examine the factors that influence its level. We conclude that transparency should not be seen as a cost to be borne by the entity, but as a long-term investment that will ensure the profitability and sustainability of the business. CZU: 657.37:005.332.5; JEL: M40, M41; DOI 10.5281/zenodo.6700367