A finance and accounting concept defining a method, measure, or process used to record activity and support financial decisions. It specifies how value, risk, or performance is measured or controlled through standardized rules and routines. It does not ensure correctness without reliable inputs, appropriate assumptions, and effective review and controls. It materially affects decisions and compliance by shaping how organizations allocate capital, report results, and manage exposure. The concept is generally stable, though standards, regulation, and tools evolve over time.

Principle

Effective information and communication require timely, relevant, and reliable data flows, clear responsibilities for reporting, and mechanisms for upward, lateral, and external reporting.

Demonstration

A treasury dashboard consolidates daily cash positions, flags variances from forecasts, routes exception alerts to finance managers, and documents actions taken, enabling prompt corrective measures.

Misapplication

Relying solely on informal verbal updates or ad hoc spreadsheets that are not version‑controlled, leaving critical decisions unsupported by auditable information.

Consequence

When functioning, information and communication enable informed decision making, efficient escalation of issues, coherent audit trails, and consistent application of controls across the organization.

Reversal

The reversal is fragmented or delayed information flows that cause misinformed decisions, missed control exceptions, and inconsistent practices across units.

Boundary

This concept covers the content and channels of control-related information; it does not by itself create controls nor guarantee data accuracy—those require control activities and data governance processes.

Semantic Tension

Tension exists between 'information systems' as technical infrastructure and 'information and communication' as governance of messaging; conflating them can obscure responsibilities for content versus delivery.

Synthesis

Information and communication are the connective tissue that turns control activities and risk assessments into coordinated action: documented facts, routed to the right people at the right time, with traceable responses.