This book, first published in 1977 and reissued in 1990, examines one of the most familiar aspects of accountancy - that of company financial reporting. Assessing the view that shareholders have little time for financial reports, this book analyses whether or not shareholders understand financial reports.

1. Introduction 2. Research Methodology and Survey Respondents 3. Understanding Financial Information 4. Assessing Actual Understanding of Financial Information 5. Further Assessment of Actual Understanding of Financial Information 6. Assessing Annual Report Usage 7. Assessing Use of Other Sources of Information 8. Understanding, Reading Behaviour and Respondents' Background 9. Areas of Misunderstanding of Reporting Practice 10. Improving the Annual Report 11. Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations