A Users Approach To Constructing The Business Reporting Model: An Internet-Based Research Case

Abstract

This case aids the exploration of exploring the financial disclosure requirements proposed by the AICPA Special Committee on Financial Reporting (i.e., the Jenkins Committee). The premise of the Committees report was to propose a model for comprehensive business reporting that is closer in line with the needs of financial statement users. This case provides a reusable framework for investigating and report upon the availability of current information disclosures available for a given company and facilitates a comparison with those disclosures advocated by the Jenkins Committee. The re-usability feature is derived from the uniqueness that each company report will have based upon the information available for a given company at a given point in time. Hence, the case will differ for each student assignment in the same semester and will also differ from one semester to the next. Five primary objectives have been specifically addressed: (1) to raise students awareness of evolving issues I the accounting profession, (2) to facilitate students understanding of the real changes in current reporting that may evolve from the Jenkins Committee, (3) to understand the difficulties faced by financial statement users who currently must search for additional disclosures through multiple information sources of questionable reliability, (4) to provide a meaningful analysis of financial statement content and disclosures, and (5) to demonstrate how the Internet can be used as s tool for aggregating information when conducting business research and analysis.