Annual report

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An annual report is a document a company presents at Annual General Meeting for approval by its shareholders, or a charitable organization presents its trustees. The report is made up of reports and financial statements, which may include the following:

• Chairman's report
• CEO's report
• Auditor's report on corporate governance
• Mission statement
• Corporate governance statement of compliance
• Statement of directors' responsibilities
• Invitation to the company's AGM

as well as Financial Statements including:

• Auditor's report on the financial statements
• Balance sheet
• Statement of retained earnings
• Income statement
• Cash flow statement
• Notes to the financial statements
• Accounting policies

Other information deemed relevant to stakeholders may be included, such as a report on operations for manufacturing firms. In the case of larger companies, it is usually a sleek, colorful, high gloss publication.

The details provided in the report are of use to investors to understand the company's financial position and future direction. The financial statements are usually compiled in compliance with IFRSs and/or the domestic GAAP, as well as domestic legislation (e.g. the SOX in the U.S.).

In the United States, a more-detailed version of the report, called a Form 10-K, is submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

[edit] External links

• www.LACP.com Host of one of the largest annual report competitions: more than 1,900 entries in 2006.
• AnnualReports.com Provider of online annual reports to individual and institutional investors (no registration required).
• Annual Report Service Database holding annual reports for a large number of corporations listed in the United States (registration required)
• AR4plcs - Annual Reports for plcs Annual Report and Accounts of plc companies quoted on London Stock Exchange or Alternative Investment Market (AIM) available to download free of charge.
• GetTheReport Database holding annual reports for the Dow-Jones and a number of European stock exchanges (site in German)
• Annual reports of all Dutch listed companies
• Score Find company annual reports in UK business libraries
• Annual reports of Dutch companies, including search engine and XBRL examples
• Annual reports for all US companies as well as quarterlies can be found here as well as explanations of rules
• Annual Report Compliance Service
• Company Annual Report