Innovation Of Quality Characteristics Of Financial Reports In The Internet Era

Three levels of network financial reporting

The concept of network financial reporting will continue to develop due to the change of environment and the development of network technology.

Under the existing technological conditions, the author thinks that Internet financial reporting refers to the disclosure of various business operations and financial information through the world wide web or the media related to the Internet, and the financial reports that reflect all kinds of production and business activities and events of enterprises are stored in a database for users to consult at any time, so as to provide users with information about their financial position, business results, cash flows and other important matters.

When a company discloses a complete set of financial statements (including notes and audit reports) on its website, or links to financial reports stored on other websites of the Internet, we regard it as a network financial report.

Of course, the disclosure of financial reports through the Internet is only the initial stage of network financial reporting. With the development of network technology, the advanced stage of network financial reporting will automatically generate the reports required by users on the network.

1. online financial reporting

Online financial reporting refers to setting up a website on the Internet to provide users with regularly updated financial reports, which is an electronic version of traditional paper reports.

Online reporting usually uses hyperlink technology to link all kinds of production and business activities information, and become an integral part of each other, breaking the boundaries between financial reports and other business reports.

Online reporting is often not as an independent part of the Internet, but is integrated into the operation of the entire enterprise, and with a variety of marketing statistics and other non quantitative information to report to the public concerned about the comprehensive operation of the enterprise.

Online financial reporting is the primary stage of network financial reporting. The financial reports here mainly refer to the original printed Annual Reports.

2. real time financial report

Real time financial reporting is the intermediate stage of network financial reporting, which means that the whole accounting cycle can be automatically completed through the network. From the input of raw data to data processing to the generation of financial reports, it is completed through a networked computer.

At this stage, all pactions and events can be recorded, processed and reported at the time of occurrence. Users can obtain real-time reporting information at any time, and do not have to wait for reports that have become historical information.

The emergence of real-time financial report is not only a technological innovation, it will bring revolutionary impact on the compilation, disclosure and use of financial reports, as well as the audit of financial reports. With the development and application of Internet technology and the development of electronic commerce, this mode will be widely adopted.

3. customized on demand

An on-demand financial report is an advanced stage of network financial reporting. It refers to the disclosure of general financial reports as the basis for further providing the coded economic information source data. The system can automatically customize the financial reports required by users according to the user's choice.

The report system consists of two subsystems: one is the general purpose real-time financial reporting system, the other is the customizable financial reporting system based on the general financial report. The accounting software set according to the user needs can produce personalized reports.

In order to meet the needs of users' diversification and personalization, there are many dimensions for users to choose, including alternative languages, alternate formats, alternative media, alternative currencies, alternative accounting standards, and alternative accounting methods.

This reporting mode has a higher demand for users. Users need to be proficient in financial knowledge, skillfully operate various application software and network technologies of computers.

Therefore, under the existing technology conditions, customized report is still an ideal financial reporting mode, but in the near future, with the development and application of network technology, the customized reporting mode will also become a reality.

Two, characteristics of network financial reporting

1. communication media networking

Communication media means the means and tools for communicating and disseminating information.

The biggest characteristic of the network financial report is that the information provider no longer uses the traditional mass media to publish the financial report, but instead uses the new network media.

Compared with the traditional media (newspaper, radio, TV), the immediacy and interactivity of the Internet show its strong advantages.

In the network age, fiber is used as the main pmission medium, which can pmit data, text, voice and image quickly. It has the characteristics of two-way pmission, high precision, digital pmission and so on.

Its propagation speed, information capacity and participation are incomparable to any traditional media.

2. information

Information media is a variety of symbols used to express information, including text, sound, graphics, images, animation, dynamic images, and so on, and multimedia is a combination of various information media.

As for the form of information media, Internet financial reporting is moving from single media to multimedia, integrating text, graphics, audio and video information into a multimedia information.

Multimedia information makes information more comprehensive, intuitive and visualized.

Especially with the use of audio and video streaming technology, we can use dynamic images to disseminate information.

When users receive information, they can use all kinds of senses such as vision, hearing and so on to receive information in all directions.

For example, through video streaming real-time dissemination of shareholders' meetings, the information conveyed by such information media is far from traditional information media.

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3. reporting dielectric optics

The propagation of information media requires a certain physical carrier. The physical carrier of such information is called medium.

Traditional financial reports use paper as medium, and publish information by publishing newspapers as the main body.

The network financial reports are stored in magnetic, optical and electrical media by means of digital code, and are read through computers or similar functions.

The storage capacity of optoelectronic media is incomparable to traditional printing media. The capacity of a standard read-only optical disk is 680mb, which is equivalent to 300 thousand pages of text and more than 300 million words.

The most important thing is that the printed medium is flat and static, while the information conveyed by the multimedia medium is multi-dimensional, dynamic and three-dimensional.

4. personalized report content

For a long time, enterprises have used standard and general financial reporting mode to pfer financial information to external users.

Under the general financial reporting mode, enterprises provide the same financial reports to different information users, and different enterprises provide standard format financial reports.

To some extent, the traditional general financial report satisfies the common information needs of external users, but it is difficult to cater for the increasingly diverse and personalized needs of information users.

The advanced stage of network financial reporting is based on the current general financial report, in order to ensure the reliability and comparability of accounting information, so as to meet the common needs of information users, and provide customized information according to users' needs to cater for users' personalized needs of information content and information media.

A major task of Internet financial reporting is to design a framework to meet users' common and unusual, stable and changing known and potential information needs.

The purpose of this framework is to customize financial reports according to the needs of users on the basis of general reports.

5. reporting voluntarily

There are two ways to disclose financial reports: mandatory and voluntary. The contents disclosed in traditional financial reports are mandatory by regulatory authorities.

With the rise of Internet financial reporting, the use of hyperlinks makes financial reports only an integral part of enterprise information system. It is difficult to distinguish which information is mandatory and what information is voluntary disclosure by enterprises.

On the other hand, the information disclosed by traditional financial reporting is constrained by the cost benefit principle, which enables enterprises to provide the minimum amount of information, while the lower production and dissemination costs of Internet financial reporting increase the voluntary disclosure of enterprises.

Thirdly, enterprises express their potential for development, improve the efficiency of financing procedures and reduce the average cost of capital, and also encourage enterprises to increase their voluntary disclosure.

Therefore, Internet financial reporting has the tendency of voluntary disclosure.

Three. Innovation of the quality characteristics of network financial reporting

The highest goal of Internet financial reporting is the usefulness of decision-making. What kind of quality characteristics should the network financial report have to achieve this goal? The network financial report covers not only the quality characteristics of the traditional financial report, but also the innovation.

The two main quality relevance and reliability of financial reporting have new meanings.

In terms of relevance, it requires not only financial reporting to be predictable and feedback, but also interactive and customizable, and the meaning of timeliness is close to real time. Relevance is no longer a general correlation but relates to specific decisions of users.

In terms of reliability, financial reporting is not only required to reflect authenticity, verifiability, neutrality, but also integrity and security.

In terms of comprehensibility, it not only requires information content to be understood by users, but also requires ease of use, that is, to facilitate users to access network financial reports.

In comparability, not only the content of information is comparable, but also the form of presentation is comparable.

1. real time

Information useful to decision making must be provided to decision makers before information loses the ability to make decisions.

Real time financial reporting means that information users can keep abreast of the operation of enterprises and make timely decisions to adapt to changing circumstances.

The usefulness and relevance of information change over time, especially in the network environment, with the increase of various uncertainties and the increasing risks faced by decision-making.

If information users want to make effective decisions, they must get information in real time in decision-making process so as to make the next decision and give full play to the maximum credit of information.

Under the network environment, the connotation of timeliness has approached to real time.

2. interaction

Interactivity means that Internet financial reporting is the result of interaction between providers and information users.

Through the establishment of communication channels on the Internet, users can communicate with providers in a timely manner. Unlike information providers who wishfully provide information, users can only passively accept information. Some information for some users is not only irrelevant, but may also increase the cost of finding relevant information.

The information users of the network financial report can directly provide specific information requests to the providers, and information users and providers can interact with each other.

3. customizable

Customization refers to the network financial reports can be converted into specific reports according to the needs of users, including two dimensions of content and form customization.

The customization of content includes two aspects: breadth and depth. The breadth refers to the different combinations of information that the user can choose, and the depth refers to the choice of the details of the information.

And the form of customization is the presentation form that users can choose to report, such as text, graphics, text, audio or video.

The relevant information required by decision makers is different because of the different decisions they make. Therefore, high quality network financial reports should be tailored to the needs of users.

The general financial report can be developed in the direction of multi-dimensional customization.

4. integrity

Integrity means that Internet financial reporting should provide all information that the user wants to know and is willing to provide.

Whether a message is useful or not depends on how well the information is matched with other information.

If the information is incomplete, even the relevant and reliable information, users can not make decisions, and at least can not make the best decision.

If a financial statement is to be reliable, it must strive for completeness within the scope of importance and cost. Omission will lead to false information or misunderstanding, thus making information unreliable and defective.

On the other hand, under the network environment, financial information can hardly be separated from the company's own information or other information provided by the third party. Similarly, users must consult all kinds of information including financial information if they want to have a comprehensive understanding of the company's business activities.

Therefore, the network financial report should be a comprehensive report, including financial and quantitative information; non-financial, quantitative information (non-financial performance indicators); non-financial and qualitative information (such as news bulletin and news events).

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5. security

Security means that the financial information disclosed on the network is the real information that the accountants intend to report, but has not been illegally modified by the internal or external users.

Sometimes, although the financial reports provided by enterprises are of high quality, the quality of financial reports may be "beyond recognition" if tampering with illegal users or encountering computer security failures.

If the security of the financial report can not be guaranteed, the original reliable information becomes unreliable and misleads the user to make the wrong decision.

6. comparability of forms

Comparability refers to the quality characteristics that enable information users to distinguish their similarities and differences from the two sets of economic situations.

Network financial reporting requires not only the comparability of accounting information content, but also the comparability of presentation forms.

The comparability of presentation forms refers to the comparability of technology, information media and page design adopted in network financial reporting.

7. ease of use

Ease of use means that network financial reporting has the characteristics of easy access.

Internet financial reporting provides users with more timely and more adequate information. But if users can not easily find the information they need, they still can not achieve the goal of network financial reporting.

The ease of use of Web financial reporting requires that web page design be simple and clear, easy to operate, the pointer of hyperlinks should be clear, and online help should be provided, so that users can solve queries at any time and facilitate users to get the information they need.

Four, pay attention to some contradictions in the quality of network financial reporting.

1. integrity and information overload

The huge capacity of the network financial report makes it possible to provide comprehensive and complete information, and the cost is no longer an important obstacle.

However, information is not more, the better, otherwise it will bring about information overload.

In practice, it has been suggested that we should give financial reports "weight reduction" and provide concise and key data.

Information overload and information insufficiency are also dangerous.

There is a limit to the amount of information that policymakers can absorb, and when that is exceeded, the information is excessive.

Faced with such a huge amount of information, decision makers may not be able to grasp the key to the problem, which is why some people say that good reports only reflect important content and summarize important issues.

This article holds that as the supplier of information, we should first satisfy the quality characteristics of integrity, that is, fully disclose all information about the company's financial position and operating results, especially the future development prospects of the company.

Like a department store, products should be flourishing and provide products that are as beautiful as possible. They can help customers select the products they need by providing guidance services.

Similarly, the high capacity of network financial reporting information also needs to provide services such as navigation help, search engine and so on, and use data mining technology, intelligent agents and other software to provide users with specialized services to find the information they need.

2. standardization and personalization

If internet financial reporting is provided in accordance with uniform standards, it can not only enhance comparability, but also even achieve consistency.

The usefulness of strong information.

This is undoubtedly necessary for information users to choose the best plan from many schemes.

However, standardized financial reports can only meet the general requirements, but can not meet the specific needs of investors, thus weakening the relevance and affecting the usefulness of information. Therefore, personalized financial reporting is necessary.

So how can we solve this dilemma?

This paper argues that with the further development of network technology, the contradiction can be solved better when the XBRL application software can be popularized at the advanced stage of network financial reporting.

Enterprises only need to provide standardized "raw materials". Users can produce personalized finished products through XBRL Financial software according to the source data encoded in XBRL language.

That is, the source data is standard, and the procedure of processing data is also standard, but the user's demand is personalized, and the final output of the financial report is also personalized.

3. pparency and confidentiality

High quality financial reporting requirements are pparent, that is, the corporate financial image provided by the financial report is clearly visible without obstructions.

Financial reports should give full play to the enterprise's "unique skills" so that users can truly understand the future development of enterprises.

No doubt, it can enhance investor confidence in enterprises and firmly support their development.

However, information users do not all support the development of enterprises, many are the deadly rivals of enterprises. Therefore, revealing too much information of "unique skills" will bring potential competitive disadvantage.

Therefore, enterprises always appear to be in a dilemma when disclosing the information of "unique skills".

We believe that user access control and message encryption are feasible solutions to these contradictions.

Financial reporting should first be pparent, but not pparent to all information users.

Enterprises can require information users to register as members and assign different access rights at different levels of their members, so as to ensure the pparency of information and guarantee the confidentiality of information to a certain extent.