Annual reports give a comprehensive look at a company’s activities throughout the proceeding year, and are a requirement for every company with shareholders. ReportWatch recently released their Annual Report on Annual Reports 2013, which includes a list of 400 top annual reports, as evaluated by a diverse panel.
What are the most important attributes in an annual report- on paper or online? The following are fifteen of the most important attributes, as listed by ReportWatch:
- Cover – Homepage – Message – Branding
- Business overview
- Key figures
- CEO/Chairman message
- Business model – Strategy – Growth drivers
- Key performance indicators
- Investor proposition – Share information
- Financial review – Management discussion and analysis
- Goals – Targets – Outlook
- Risk factors, control and management
- Leadership, governance and compensation
- Corporate responsibility – sustainability
- Historical data, charts, ratios
- Online reporting
- Style – Design – Layout
Since publishing an annual report is mandatory, many companies stick to a legal format that simply meets regulatory and compliance obligations. In his opening comments, ReportWatch co-founder Mike Guillaume writes “Good reporting tends to depart from ready-to-wear forms and goes beyond compliance…A big frustration indeed is that too many reports now tend to look and sound like each other (a downside of globalization). Where is that differentiation, trumpeted by branding, advertising and other marketing specialists?”
With the average reader spending less time reading annual reports than in the past, the case for making these reports compelling seems stronger than ever before. Looking for ways to improve your reporting documents? Check out the SEC’s A Plain English Handbook: How to create clear SEC disclosure documents. This handbook gives helpful information on creating clearer writing, and organizing, designing, and evaluating your document. The SEC emphasizes a writing style that communicates complex information clearly using everyday words. The aim is to create a document that looks like it’s meant to be read– one that actively engages readers.
ReportWatch’s Annual Report on Annual Reports 2013 contains great examples of successful reports, and additional information on the attributes that make a report compelling.