A guide for employers
The reporting standards behind a Sri Lankan annual report, and what each one covers
An annual report answers to more than one rulebook: the financial standards, the sustainability and climate standards, and the governance frameworks. Here is each one, in a line, and when the sustainability rules apply to you.
The financial standards
How the numbers are prepared.
- SLFRS and LKAS. Sri Lanka’s accounting standards, set by CA Sri Lanka and converged with IFRS: how the financial statements are prepared so they give a true and fair view.
- IFRS. The international accounting rulebook that SLFRS and LKAS follow, used by listed and large companies worldwide.
- Companies Act No. 7 of 2007. The statutory floor: proper accounting records, financial statements within six months of the year end, and an annual report with the directors’ report for shareholders.
Sustainability and climate
What the business does beyond the numbers.
- SLFRS S1 and S2. Sri Lanka’s sustainability disclosure standards, issued by CA Sri Lanka. S1 covers sustainability risks and opportunities in general; S2 covers climate.
- ISSB, IFRS S1 and S2. The international standards that SLFRS S1 and S2 adopt, setting the global baseline for sustainability and climate disclosure.
- GRI (2021 standards). The Global Reporting Initiative’s 2021 universal standards, with topic and sector standards, the most widely used framework for reporting a company’s impacts on the economy, environment and people.
- SASB. Industry-specific sustainability metrics, now held within the ISSB, that identify the issues financially material to each sector.
- GHG Protocol. The standard method for measuring greenhouse-gas emissions, split into Scope 1 (direct), Scope 2 (purchased energy) and Scope 3 (value chain).
- TNFD. The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures: how a company reports its dependencies and impacts on nature, the counterpart to climate disclosure.
Impact, or financial materiality. GRI reports a company’s effects on the world around it. SLFRS S1 and S2, with SASB, report the sustainability matters that could affect the value of the business. Many companies report against both, from one set of data, because they answer different audiences.
Governance and wider frameworks
How the company is run, and the story it tells.
- Code of Best Practice on Corporate Governance (2023). The CA Sri Lanka and SEC benchmark for how a company is directed and controlled: board, committees, risk, remuneration, cyber security and sustainability governance.
- CSE Listing Rules. The continuing obligations of a listed company, including timely financial disclosure and the sustainability reporting requirement phased in from 2025.
- Integrated Reporting. The framework for telling the whole value-creation story across six capitals, the format most Sri Lankan listed-company annual reports follow.
- ISO management-system standards. Certifiable standards a company reports being certified to: ISO 14001 (environment), ISO 45001 (health and safety), and, by sector, ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 22000 (food safety), ISO 27001 (information security), ISO 50001 (energy) and social-accountability marks such as SA8000.
- Personal Data Protection Act. Sri Lanka’s data-protection law, an increasing part of the privacy and governance a company is expected to account for.
- Gender Parity Reporting Framework. CA Sri Lanka’s framework for disclosing gender diversity across the workforce and leadership, which listed groups increasingly report against.
- UN Global Compact and the SDGs. The ten universal principles a company commits to, and the seventeen global goals it maps its activities against in its reporting.
How it is assured. A listed group's report is independently assured: the financial statements under Sri Lanka Auditing Standards, the integrated and sustainability content under SLAE 3000, the local equivalent of the international ISAE 3000, and the greenhouse-gas inventory to ISO 14064. Assurance is the auditor's work, not ours. What the platform does is keep every figure traceable to its source, so the pack arrives assurance-ready.
Sector-specific standards
Your industry adds its own.
On top of the standards every company shares, each industry reports against its own. These are the ones that apply to your sector, not a general list.
- Banking. Basel III capital and liquidity disclosure, under the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s banking directions.
- Finance companies. The Central Bank’s Finance Business Act directions on capital, liquidity and governance.
- Insurance. The Risk-Based Capital framework of the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.
- Plantations, hotels, apparel and the rest. The matching SASB industry standard, GRI’s sector standards where they apply, and the reporting each sector’s regulator expects.
The mandate and the timeline
Sustainability reporting is phasing in from 2025.
SLFRS S1 and S2 apply to annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025, on a timetable set by CA Sri Lanka and applied through the CSE listing rules.
- 2025: the largest hundred Main Board listed companies by market value.
- 2026: all Main Board listed companies.
- 2027: all remaining CSE-listed companies, except the Empower Board.
- 2028 onward: large unlisted companies by turnover, and the remaining listed boards, with full adoption targeted by 2030.
The first year is eased. In its first reporting year a company may report climate first and add the wider sustainability topics the year after, need not show prior-year comparatives, and need not disclose Scope 3 value-chain emissions until a later year.
Why an unlisted company should still care
The ask arrives before the mandate.
Larger customers, lenders and overseas buyers increasingly ask for this data, so the request often lands well before any mandate reaches you. The work is in the gathering, not the writing.
Capture the figures month by month now, against the standards that apply to you, and the report becomes a by-product rather than a year-end scramble.
This guide is general information for employers, not legal advice, and does not create a client relationship. Sri Lankan law, standards and the applicable dates change, and how they apply depends on your circumstances. Confirm your position with a qualified adviser before acting.