Annual reports are an enduring feature of the corporate reporting landscape. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) have commissioned Professor Young and Dr Alves to examine the evolution of annual reports for FTSE350 firms between 2018 and 2022. The research project, which is ongoing, explores five key themes: boilerplating and text reuse, risk reporting, business model
Corporate reporting quality is hard to measure objectively despite the multitude of recommendations and guidelines on how to write the ideal annual report. Ongoing research uses machine learning to identify a framework for annual report quality. The aim is to identify systematic patterns in the way high quality annual reports are written and presented, and then combine these features in an algorithm that scores reporting quality automatically.
The International Centre for Research in Accounting (ICRA) was formed in 1971 with the object of advancing education and promoting theoretical and applied research in accounting and related aspects of finance. Supported by Lancaster University.
