Business Reports for Busy People

Chapter 23

Annual Report

The concept of the annual report began to form in the middle of the 19th century, and things have changed a lot since then. It’s still true that the basic idea is that once a year a corporation, nonprofit, or government unit summarizes activities. This document is, in effect, an accounting to various publics how funds have been managed. But ways to distribute information and the groups of readers who might be interested have expanded. Labor unions and governmental entities have become very powerful. Other factions who believe they should have a say, in addition to stockholders, might include customers and community members. The last thing a company or organization wants to convey is the notion that something is being ...