Web-based Corporate Reporting

Practices in India
Presented By:Seema
Under the Supervision of: Prof.
H.L.Verma
 Introduction

• Corporate reporting is presenting data to those user who are in the organisation as well as outside the
organisation
• The user of information from corporate include various stakeholder like
management,shareholders,Taxtation,authorise,coustmer& gernal public.
• Corporate reporting is what companies are communicating with stakeholders.
• By corporate reporting come to transparency.To examine the performance& fix the accountability.

• Corporate report can be different types(1)annual report(2)government submit report

• Company should display all information on the website
• One of the most rapidly growing areas of Internet technology is the World Wide
Web, which is used for business communication in various forms..
• Corporate Reporting is the process of communicating both financial and non-
financial information. object of corporate reporting is to provide useful
information and extend accountability to numerous stakeholders. Web-based
corporate reporting has become quite popular practice during recent times.
• The financial report include some statuary rep[ort like, p&l a/c,balance
sheet ,cash flow statement,director report, auditor report,interim report.
• Non-financial include company history ,organisation stracture,social
acconting,financial ratio
• Almost every company maintains its website. It has rather become mandatory
with every organization to disclose information on website with the
implementation of Right to Information Act, 2005.

• Right to Information Act, 2005 it has become obligatory for every organization
including corporates to disclose a minimum amount of information on website
for use to its stakeholders. The present study will also judge the degree of
compliance of the provisions of Right to Information Act by the corporates
 Significance of good corporate repoting

• Company relations improve&extend with external public.

It reduce wastage & cost.(which is lessend by internal report).
• Campany can address its financial position &information to investers.by
doing so invester can purchase share.
• Supply chain relationship is better &improve .
• It increase good will& profit.
• The com. Can win over the confidence of income tax&government.
• It create efficency&effectiveness.
• By perfect reporting com. Is known all the global.
Viewing all this company disclocures all information.
 Review of Literature
• The literature reported hereunder on Web-based Corporate Reporting show that there has already been rapid adoption of the web for dissemination of
information including financial information. The concept of
globalization has gained considerable attention in recent years. The world is rapidly moving toward a single global market for capital as well as product and
services. The continuing wave of cross border mergers and acquisitions suggests that firms are increasingly seeing themselves as global firms. Advances in
global communication technology through the fusion of information technology and telecommunications have played a major role in facilitating globalization.
The staggering amount of capital flows, production and marketing across borders would not be possible without the improvements in information technology.
Modern communication technology enables businesses to operate in different parts of the world with diverse shapes and forms of organization and control.
Global businesses can link directly to their customers, suppliers and partners around the world.
• Globalization and information technology developments have implications for many areas of business, management and market regulation. The Web is having
a significant positive impact upon information disclosure by firms. In this new complex and unstable environment there is a patient need for services such as
accountancy, which adds value to information consumers by providing reliable and trusted information. The information revolution created by the Web has
major implications for regulations of markets. Presently individual countries no longer can be effective regulatory jurisdictions. In the absence of an effective
international regulatory system, laws, codes of conduct or standards will have to be established to govern activities that exceed national boundaries. This will
certainly involve activities like information dissemination through the Web and other electronic means.
• The practice of corporate reporting on the internet has been accompanied by an influx of research into issues such as identification of corporations that report
through the internet and the type of information that is disclosed (Lymer, 1999). Numerous surveys have been undertaken to study the current practices of
Internet reporting internationally (for instance, Lymer and Tallberg, 1997; Ashbaugh et al., 1999; Craven and Marston, 1999; Ettredge et al., 2001). These
surveys found an increasing usage of the Internet media for financial reporting by large corporations all over the world. But, there is a lack of exclusively
published evidence on corporate reporting using the Internet in India. Thus a literature gap exists and the present study seeks to tackle this by documenting a
study on current Internet reporting practices in India.
• 
• International Status
• There are numerous papers that sought to study the process of internet reporting internationally. For instance, Petravick and Gillett (1996), Lymer (1997),
Gowthorpe and Flynn (1997), Craven and Marston (1999), Lymer and Tallberg (1997), Brennan and Hourigan (1998), Pichegger and Wagenhofer (1999),
Gowthorpe and Amat (1999), Hassan et al. (2000), Oyelere et al. (2000), Rodrigues and Menezes (2001), Marston and Wu (2001) and Lodhia et al. (2003).
These studies investigated the nature and extent of financial reporting on corporate Web site in developed countries like UK, Finland, Ireland, Spain, Malaysia,
Portugal, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Austria and USA. The overall conclusions that can be inferred from these studies are as follows: First, the majority of companies in these
• International Status
• There are numerous papers that sought to study the process of internet reporting
internationally. For instance, Petravick and Gillett (1996), Lymer (1997),
Gowthorpe and Flynn (1997), Craven and Marston (1999), Lymer and Tallberg
(1997), Brennan and Hourigan (1998), Pichegger and Wagenhofer (1999),
Gowthorpe and Amat (1999), Hassan et al. (2000), Oyelere et al. (2000),
Rodrigues and Menezes (2001), Marston and Wu (2001) and Lodhia et al. (2003).
These studies investigated the nature and extent of financial reporting on
corporate Web site in developed countries like UK, Finland, Ireland, Spain,
Malaysia, Portugal, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Austria and USA. The overall
conclusions that can be inferred from these studies are as follows: First, the
majority of companies in these countries have corporate websites, which contain
financial information of varying breadth and depth. Second, these companies are
using this medium for corporate financial reporting purpose because of the
unique features and advantages that the Internet offers.
• Full accounts refers to comprehensive accounting statements.
• in the USA had Websites with 81 Percentage of companies having financial information (at least profit and loss
account nd balance sheet) on Websites.
• Accounting organizations and standard setters are also paying attention to the rapid growth of dissemination of
accounting information on the Internet. The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC)
commissioned a discussion paper include the AICPA’s special committees on Finanacial Reporting (Jenkins
report) and Assurance (Elliott Report), Canada’s CICA “Vision report” and its report of the Task Force on
Assurance Services, by Scotland’s ICAS in its “Business Reporting- The Inevitable Change?” report, and by the
UK’s “Added Value Professionals: Chartered Accountants in 2005.” In recent times the for business reporting on
the Internet. The Canadian Institute of Certified Accountants (CICA), the Financial Accounting Standards Board
(FASB) in the US (FASB, 2000) and Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW, 1998) have
also taken initiatives in investigating the rapidly changing world of business reporting on the Internet. Recent
reports International Federation of Accountants (IIFAC) has added to the professional pronouncements on this
topic, developing the “code of conduct” for Internet-based reporting proposed in the IASC study.
• The IASC report provided a survey of Web based financial reporting practices of the 660 public corporations in
22 countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North and South America. 86 percent of these corporations had a
Website. A total of 410 of these companies have in-depth reports on their Websites in HTML, indicating a
higher level of investment in making information available by electronic paper. The than merely study
concluded that a significant number of companies in many countries use the Web for communication of
business performance to stakeholders
• Petravick and Gillett (1996) reported that 69 percent of Fortune 150 companies percent of them disclosing some financial information. Petravick and
Gillett (1998) extended their earlier (1996) study by measuring how fast companies are reporting information on earnings on the Internet. They
tracked 125 of the Fortune 500 that announced quarter-end or year-end earnings. The results indicate that 79.2percent (99 out of 125) made the
releases on their Websites on the same day as the announcement. They concluded that Websites were as effective as newspapers in providing timely
earning releases.
• Louwers et al. (1996) looked at the same population and reported that 69 percent had Websites and 46 percent had financial information. Even
though those two research teams looked at the same population, the differing results could reflect the exact timing of when they evaluated the
Websites. Minor differences in timing can result in very different statistics as Websites are changing very quickly. Those differences could also reflect
the difficulty in locating specific items on company Websites.
• Gray and Debreceny (1997) reported that in December 1996, of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies, 49 (98 percent) had Websites. In addition, 34 (68
percent) distributed their annual reports on their Websites and 18 (36 percent) also included auditors reports.
• Lymer (1997) analysed the 50 largest UK listed companies and reported that 92 percent had Websites with 68 percent of them including financial
information.
• Lymer and Tallberg (1997) analysed all 72 listed companies in Finland and found that 90 percent had websites with 82 percent of them including
financial reports- 11 percent had full reporting and 71 percent had partial reporting.
• Molero, Prado and Sevillano (1999) reported that 45 percent of the companies on the Madrid Stock Exchange had Websites, with 56 percent of those
including some financial information.
• Lodhia et al. (2003) studied the overview of financial reporting of largest 50 companies in Australia as well as compared the findings of the study with
the IASC study. This study highlighted that Internet financial reporting in Austrailia did not fully utilize the potential of the internet to disclose
corporate information in different ways to those submitted to paper based reporting. There was a need for further research of more corporations in
Australia as well as regarding other non-financial information reported by the companies.
• Studies such as those by Ashbaugh et al. (1999), FASB (2000) and Ettredge et al. (2001) indicate that the US corporations have been rapidly increasing
the use of the Internet as a corporate communication tool during the late 1990s. Moreover, Deller et al. (1998) report that the US corporations make
use of the Internet for investor relations more comprehensively and also offer more features than their counterparts in the UK and Germany.
• Some researchers have analysed companies from more than one country in the same report. In the biggest study undertaken so far, Lymer et al.
(1999) analysed 660 companies, which included the 30 largest listed companies from 22 different countries. The tentative results were presented at
the 1999 American Accounting Association (AAA) Annual conference. The preliminary analysis found that 84 percent of the corporations had
Websites. At the high end, Canada, Germany and the United States, 100 percent of the top 30 companies had Websites; the lowest number for the 22
countries studied was 52 percent for Chile. For the whole population, 62 percent had some form of financial disclosures
• Ettredge et al. (2001) examined the factors that influence both required and voluntary
disclosure of financial information. However, required items had significantly association with
size and proxy for information asymmetry, while voluntary information item disclosure was
associated with variables; size, information asymmetry, demand for external capital and
companies’ traditional disclosure reputations.
• Marston (2003) found that Internet reporting was well established among leading Japanese
companies. Further there was some evidence to show that company size and industry type, but
not profitability or overseas listing, were associated with Internet reporting.
• Allam and Lymer (2003) showed the results of extent of corporate disclosure on the Internet for
companies of five largest countries and found that US, UK and Canadian companies were close
and on the lead regarding reporting with respect to internet financial reporting levels.over
Internet. Australian companies followed with a little gap, while Hong Kong companies lagged
behind with considerable differences. The study also found that there was no significant
relationship between size and disclosure level of companies in any of the five countries with the
exception to Australia. Further, there was significant difference among the countries
 
 Objectives of the Study
• The main objective of the present study is to examine the extent, adequacy, technological
aspects and usefulness of web-based corporate financial and business reporting in India. To
achieve this broad objective the following specific objectives of the study are identified in respect
of selected units of corporate sector in India:
• to study the types and extent of web based financial and business disclosures;
• to find out the extent of compliance of web-based corporate disclosures with the requirements
of Indian Accounting Standards (IAS) and Right to Information Act;
• to examine the relationship between corporate disclosures and various company characteristics
such as size, profits, age, nature of industry and business house;
• to assess the perceptions of various stakeholders on web-based corporate reporting practices
with regard to their adequacy and usefulness;
• to analyse the technological aspects of web reporting on the system from the point of view of its
cost, timeliness, type and frequency of information disclosed; and
• to make suggestions on the basis of findings for the betterment of web reporting and highlight its
future potential in India in the changing business scenario.
 
 
 Scope/Relevance of the Study
• The scope of the present study is explained with reference to the concept, units covered and time framework.
• Web-based Corporate Reporting refers to the disclosure of accounting and other business information on Website by the selected
companies. Thus the study would focus on all type of financial and non financial information and the extent of their disclosures on
Websites by the selected units.
• The study proposes to cover all the 200 units of BSE 200 DOLLEX index. Fo levance of the Study
• One of the significant questions of any research study is justification as to its need. Now a days one thing is clear i.e. the usage of
technology is expanding tremendously, particularly the use of Internet for business purposes. Many companies are using now
Internet for reporting. Some are reporting through other electronic means also such as direct network connections. It is important for
the accounting profession to understand what is happening and what are the effects likely to be. If this is done soon, the profession
will be in a better position to act proactively on the available issues.
• r the purpose of sample identification of these 200 units, a particular date will be identified.
• To examine the reporting practices of these companies a timeframe of 5 years is proposed to be taken. However, in case of
companies reporting data for a lesser period the actual number of years for which data is would become the base for analysis.
internet reporting by Indian companies also. This study would analyse data of Indian companies only.
• Relevance of the Study
• One of the significant questions of any research study is justification as to its need. Now a days one thing is clear i.e. the usage of
technology is expanding tremendously, particularly the use of Internet for business purposes. Many companies are using now
Internet for reporting. Some are reporting through other electronic means also such as direct network connections. It is important for
the accounting profession to understand what is happening and what are the effects likely to be. If this is done soon, the profession
will be in a better position to act proactively on the issues.

•
 Methodology
• Research methodology means a pattern or an outline of a
research process to be adopted. It comprises a series of prior
decisions that, taken together, provide a master plan for
executing a research project. The research methodology of the
present study is discuss.
• Selection of Sample
• For the purpose of this study, a sample of top 200 companies
which constitute BSE-200 Dollex will be taken. The rationale
behind selecting BSE-200 Dollex as sample base is that these
200 companies account for a sizeable share of market
capitalization in Indian security market and reflect the
performance of almost the entire corporate sector in the
country.
 Sample Size
• For the purpose of this study, a sample of top 200 companies
which constitute NSE-cnx 200 Dollex will be taken. The
rationale behind selecting NSE-200 Dollex as sample base is
that these 200 companies account for a sizeable share of
market capitalization in Indian security market and reflect the
performance of almost the entire corporate sector in the
country.
• Data Collection
• For the present study both primary and secondary data will be used.
The main source of data will be the websites of the respective sample
companies which will be analysed and evaluated in terms of the
objectives identified. A work-sheet will be prepared containing a
detailed data as to the financial and business information disclosed
on website of each company. The relevant secondary data will also be
collected from Prowess, BSE Stock Exchange Official Directory and
Newspapers. The primary data will be collected through a well
administered questionnaire to assess the perceptions of stakeholders
on corporate web reporting. Efforts will be made to collect primary
data through internet source also by loading a questionnaire on
internet for wide section of population
• Statistical Techniques
• Statistical techniques will be used to analyse the impact of independent variables on a
dependent variable. In the present study, the multiple linear regression model will be used to
analyse the influence of independent variables. In addition, other relevant statistical techniques
will be used keeping in view the nature of data collected. The statistical results of the multiple
regression and analysis of variance will be obtained with the help of SPSS software.
•  
• Chapter Scheme
• The study report shall be divided into the following chapters:
• Introduction.
• Review of Related Studies and Research Design.
• Trends in Corporate Accounting and Reporting Practices.
• Company Characteristics and Corporate Web Reporting Practices.
• Web-based Corporate Reporting and Compliance to Regulatory Requirements.
• Web Reporting: Stake holder’s Opinion Survey.
• Findings and Suggestions.
 References

• The literature reported hereunder on Web-based Corporate Reporting has

already been rapid adoption of the web for dissemination of information
including financial information. The concept of globalization has gained
considerable attention in recent years. The world is rapidly moving toward
a single global market for capital as well as product and services. The
continuing wave of cross border mergers and acquisitions suggests that
firms are increasingly seeing themselves as global firms. Advances in
global communication technology through the fusion of information
technology and telecommunications have played a major role in
facilitating globalization. The staggering amount of capital flows,
production and marketing across borders would not be possible without
the improvements in information technology. Modern communication
technology enables businesses to operate in different parts of the world