In this conversation, David questions the usefulness and relevance of published financial statements because of the time taken to publish them. Leona defends the rigorous audit scrutiny. Would David have the same opinion if there were no audited financial statements available for investors in listed companies?

Data from dialogue

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DAVID: This week I've made three visits to companies, attended four presentations of preliminary announcements of results, received copies of the projector slides used for five others that I couldn't attend, and collected around 20 annual reports. I have a small mound of brokers' reports, all of which say much the same thing but in different ways. I've had to read all those while preparing my monthly report to the head of Equities Section on the performance of my fund and setting out my strategy for three months ahead consistent with in-house policy. I think I'm suffering from information overload and I have reservations about the reliability of any single item of informa- tion I receive about a company. LEONA: If I had to give scores for reliability to the information crossing your desk, I would give top marks to the 20 annual reports. They have been through a very rigor- ous process and they have been audited by reputable audit firms using established standards of auditing practice.