The Definitive Guide to Business Finance: What smart managers do with the numbers, Second Edition

Reporting responsibilities

There is one important issue which I do want to touch on now – what might be called public financial reporting. All businesses have to file various financial returns with government regulators; public corporations publish glossy annual reports; and most if not all companies will at some time give financial information to trade partners, creditors, bankers, investors, shareholders and other nosey people. It hardly needs to be said that the law imposes certain obligations on such reporting. As already mentioned, directors can be held personally liable for misreporting. It is, therefore, rather important for managers to understand the basics of these obligations. Let me introduce the concepts here, but deal with the specifics ...