Business Model Reporting: Why the Perception of Preparers and Users Matters

The concept of business models has entered the realm of corporate reporting through recent regulations. This article aims to offer a conceptual discussion about the importance of investigating preparers’ and users’ perceptions of the business model and its constitutive elements in relation to such reporting and disclosure requirements. While prior studies on business model reporting have investigated the amount and quality of disclosures utilizing content analysis, we argue that it would be relevant to take a step back and understand how preparers and users of financial statements understand and consider this concept, as well as the respective alignment of their interpretation. Such an analysis is expected to provide insights on the underlying reasons for, and antecedents of, the current disclosure levels and about the capability of the business model concept to provide a framework for other types of information, as postulated by the literature.