concerns of external parties: “accountability involves the monitoring, evaluation and control of organisational agents to ensure that they behave in the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders” (Keasey & Wright 1993). The accountability theory focuses firstly on the relationship between the company and its shareholders and on financial information in the annual report and, secondly, on the relationship between a company and its stakeholders on disclosure in the annual report (Drever, Stanton & McGowan 2007).