Most disclosure comes in the form of accounts and reports focusing on the financial position and the activities of the company. Mandated disclosures include environmental, social, and governance concerns as well as non-financial and sustainability information statements and climate-related disclosures. The chapter discusses the statutory provisions governing company accounts; the accounting and regulatory framework; narrative reporting requirements; filing requirements. The position depends on the class of company—micro, small, medium, large, and public interest entities. The chapter also addresses the regulatory framework for audit; audit reform; the auditors’ report; and the auditor’s duty of care.
Chapter
18. Informed shareholders and stakeholders—disclosure and the limited company
Chapter
Accounts and reports
This chapter discusses the obligations imposed on directors of companies to maintain proper accounting records, prepare annual financial statements and reports on the company’s business and disclose this information to members and the public. Requirements for companies to report their financial position to their members and to the public vary according to whether the company is a micro-entity, or is small, medium-sized or large. A company is subject to additional requirements if it is a quoted company. The definitions of these categories are set out and the rules applying to each category are summarised. The chapter discusses the form and contents of annual accounts and the contents of the strategic report and directors’ report.
