Financial Report

Financial reporting uses financial statements to disclose financial data that indicates the financial health of a company over during a specific period of time. The information is vital for management to make decisions about the company’s future and provides information to capital providers like creditors and investors about the profitability and financial stability of the company.

Examples of Financial reporting:

  • external financial statements (income statement, statement of comprehensive income, balance sheet, statement of cash flows, and statement of stockholders’ equity)
  • notes to the financial statements
  • communication regarding quarterly earnings and related information through press releases and conference calls
  • quarterly and annual reports to stockholders
  • financial information posted on a business’s website
  • financial reports to governmental agencies including quarterly and annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
  • documentation pertaining to the issuance of common stock and other securities

Statutory Reporting

The statutory report is the obligatory submission of financial and non-financial information to a government or concerned agency. This is a report that a company or organization must make public by law, especially its financial report. For a common example, this report is a statement drafted by the directors of a public limited company to forward to the shareholders at least 21 days before the date of the meeting. Each industry has its own set of laws and regulations (statues) that mandate reports. A copy is also sent to the registrar of joint-stock companies for registration. It is the mandatory submission of financial and non-financial information to a government agency. In many countries, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has replaced country-specific Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for statutory reporting.

Examples of Statutory Reports
The followings are examples of the statutory report.

  1. Statutory Report submitted at the statutory meeting of the company.
  2. Directors’ Report to the Annual General Meeting.
  3. Annual Returns.
  4. Auditors’ Report.
  5. Reports by Inspectors appointed to investigate the affairs of the company.

Regulatory Reporting

‘Regulatory reporting’ is the submission of raw or summary data needed by regulators to evaluate a bank’s operations and its overall health, thereby determining the status of compliance with applicable regulatory provisions. Governments across the world give prime importance to keep their banking systems updated. This has proved to be an important task, more so after the financial crisis of 2008-09 or what we have come to know as the “Great Recession”.

Tax Reporting

As per the Income Tax Act, Tax Audit as per Sec 44AB of the Income Tax Act is applicable to a business or profession in certain specified situations. Tax Audit Report is the report prepared by a Chartered Accountant in practice after auditing the books of accounts of a business. Under Tax Audit, the CA ensures whether the books of accounts are correctly prepared and the taxable income is accurately calculated as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act.