Open AccessQualitative characteristics of business reporting: A historical perspective
Author(s) -
Vishal Verma,
Yousef Shahwan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
corporate ownership and control
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1810-0368
pISSN - 1727-9232
DOI - 10.22495/cocv18i3siart10
Subject(s) - cash flow statement , balance sheet , income statement , accounting , financial statement analysis , statement of changes in financial position , perspective (graphical) , financial statement , accounting management , cash flow , business , financial analysis , statement (logic) , political science , accounting information system , computer science , audit , artificial intelligence , law
This paper aims to provide a historical review of several leading documents in relation to the objectives of financial statements. Four main documents were discussed, analyzed and compared, using the content analysis approach. These documents are The Trueblood Report (1973), The Corporate Report (1976), Making Corporate Reports Valuable (McMonnies, 1988), and Guidelines for Financial Reporting Standards (Solomons, 1989). These documents were selected because they have been described as milestones in addressing qualitative characteristics of financial and business reporting. The historical review showed that the basic objective of financial statements is concerned with providing useful information for economic decision-making. In addition, it emphasized that information is useful when: 1) it shows the economic reality of the financial statements (i.e., balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement); and 2) it is relevant and reliable to users