How IHG built verification into every stage of its reporting process

Why IHG verifies

As a FTSE 50 company dual-listed in the UK and US, IHG Hotels & Resorts operates under rigorous disclosure obligations on both sides of the Atlantic. Every year it releases a significant volume of material to the market, and its disclosure controls exist to ensure that every statement is evidence-backed before it goes out.

“A misstatement could carry reputational and regulatory consequences, and our disclosure controls are in place to minimise this risk,” says Pavan Basi, Senior Manager of Group Financial Planning & Analysis (Group FP&A).

IHG’s disclosure committee meets regularly to oversee governance and disclosure matters across the business. Atticus plays a role in that system by giving teams confidence in the underlying material well before anything reaches the committee.

Every meaningful statement in our report needs to be backed by something we can point to.

Pavan Basi

‍Senior Manager, Group Financial Planning & Analysis, IHG Hotels & Resorts

How they verify

Pavan Basi leads the verification process at IHG, overseeing a structured process to verify the annual report. The team verifies section by section, methodically adding new sections as the annual report draft progresses.

They start verifying early, using a small starting section from the annual report. The bulk of the work tends to be completed in the two weeks before announcement in mid-February.

“We get on to verification as early as possible – there’s just too much volume to leave it late.”

Every annotation must be verified at three independent levels. Level one is a manager within the relevant team – someone close to the content. Level two is a more senior person within the same team. Level three is Group FP&A, acting as an independent check across the whole document.

Before closing the workspace, Pavan runs three checks: a final check to confirm every part of the document has been annotated, a review of the dashboard to confirm every annotation has been verified by all three levels, and a final visual review of the document. The full workspace is then exported and saved as a permanent record outside Atticus.

Auditors are most active in the final one to two weeks before announcement.

Workiva and Atticus

IHG uses Workiva and Atticus together – Workiva for drafting and to link data housed in the financial reporting platform, Atticus for verification of all other data and statements. 

They use Atticus as the final layer of comfort before anything goes to market. It also provides the final audit trail that quickly and easily surfaces the who, what, and when if there’s ever a question.

“Atticus gives us the assurance we need at every stage – it’s where we go to know everything has been properly checked.”

The features they can’t go without

Dashboard

Pavan uses the dashboard at the close of each cycle to confirm that every statement has been through all three levels of verification – identifying any gaps before the workspace is finalised.

“I go into the dashboard view, run an index table, and check for any blanks – making sure everything has three levels.”

Version Control

With the annual report being updated eight times in the cycle, the team uses Version Control to carry over existing work and only the changes require verification.

“When the next proof comes in, it’s just an incremental process. Everything that was verified in the previous version carries across.”

Backing Documents

The team attaches evidence against each highlighted statement to feel confident that the verification record is robust.

“I come from an external audit background, so I know how important it is to see the evidence. Atticus gives us the opportunity to apply real rigour – you can physically see the backing documents behind every statement.”

The whole team can disclose with confidence

With over 60 active users – including 20 newcomers in the most recent annual reporting cycle alone – the process has to be easy to pick up. After one training session and a short guide, Pavan had very few follow-up questions to answer.

“We put one quick training session on for everyone. But after that, very few questions or issues. They just picked it up.”

Getting that many people comfortable enough to verify with confidence – across the annual report, stock exchange announcements, and other external communications – requires a tool that does not create uncertainty.

“It’s built in a way that gives everyone confidence using it, and that’s what you need when it comes to verification.”