3. Generally, the purpose of financial statements is to help investors and other users make informed financial decisions about the entity in which they have an interest or stakeholding. Financial statements provide the owners of the business with some means of assessing the proficiency with which their business is being run. These statements are therefore one way in which shareholders can assess or evaluate the directors' performance in running the company. This is because financial statements report the impact management decisions have on the company's financial position and cash flows for the year. However, with creative accounting being practiced by the corporate world, it seems published financial statements rarely serve the purpose for which they are prepared. Discuss.