Annual Report

Key Highlights

• A detailed document produced by a company at the end of each fiscal year, providing comprehensive information about its operations, financial performance, and business activities over the previous 12 months.

• While public companies are legally required to publish annual reports, private companies may also prepare them for regulatory or internal purposes.

What is Annual Report

A detailed document produced by a company at the end of each fiscal year, providing comprehensive information about its operations, financial performance, and business activities over the previous 12 months. While public companies are legally required to publish annual reports, private companies may also prepare them for regulatory or internal purposes.

Purpose and Audience

• Purpose: To give shareholders, investors, and others a clear picture of how the company’s doing financially, what it’s achieved, and where it’s headed.

• Audience: Mainly shareholders, potential investors, regulators, and sometimes employees or the public.

Key Features

• Financial Statements: Key reports like the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement, showing the company’s money matters at a glance.

• Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A): The leadership’s take on the numbers, risks, and strategies moving forward.

• Corporate Governance: Info on who’s running the show, including the board of directors, executive pay, and company policies.

Rules and Regulations

• Legal Requirement: Public companies have to produce these reports to follow securities laws and stock exchange rules.

• Regulatory Filings: In the U.S., companies file a detailed version called Form 10-K with the SEC, which dives deeper than the standard report.