All of them want a ‘‘true account’’ of operations, including key items such as revenues, net
income and liabilities, but what they actually get is an interpretation of them. This includes
the application of analytical and explanatory rules in combination with knowledge,
experience and common sense (Marshall, 1994). To understand a financial report it is
important to notice the difference between records in which data are simply stored and
reports dealing with information. Since the preparation of accounts for publication and their
distribution to the members is the statutory responsibility of a company director, it is
important for the company to also prepare supporting schedules from which it can be seen
exactly what files the information has been drawn from and the process of translating data
into information can be monitored (Woolf, 1997).