The following list contains data or information that might be provided about a business.
1 List of managers and directors
2 Compensation packages of directors and managers
3 List of major competitors by markets and by product groups.
4 Allocation of responsibility in the business
5 Age distribution pyramid of employees and managers
6 Result of labor union elections in the various establishments of the business.
7 Social climates in each department of the business
8 Financial statements (statement of financial position or balance sheet, income statement, notes, statement of cash flows)
9 Map of the layout of the plant and the warehouse.
10 Location, size and staffing of all points of sale
11 Evolution of sales of each key product group over the past three years
12 Age distribution of products (products still sold today that were launched one, two or three years ago or more).
13 Number of employees.
14 Distribution of shares ownership (with identified major shareholders and percentage they own, as well as percentage of total shares traded in a normal month).
15 Details of the loans received (amounts and reimbursement schedule).
16 Cost of capital (weighted current average cost of the various sources of funding used by the firm).
17 Opportunities for investments in the business and their expected rate of return
18 Major capital investment projects approved over the last three years.
19 Partition of assets between owned and leased.
20 Percent of completion of investment projects started in the last three years.
21 Outside expert report on the technological and physical obsolescence of assets owned by the business.
22 Details on the incentive plans implemented in this business (including stock options).
23 Evolution of the share price of a business quoted on the NYSE Euronext Stock markets over the past three years (including a comparison with other firms in the same economic sector).
24 Description of the sales technology and techniques used in each of the markets in which the firm’s products or services are sold
25 Amount spent on acquiring new customers and creating demand (marketing, advertising, promotion and sales expenses).
26 Tax filings for the past three years and amount of taxes still owed.
27 Cash or liquid assets position
28 Description of the key customers, the length of their commercial relationship with the firm, and evolution of the percentage each represents in the business’ total sales.
29 Opinion of the senior management team about how they see the future of the firm and its markets
30 Amounts spent on R&D, structured by types of research. Evolution of the duration of R&D projects until success or abandonment, and percentage of successful projects over the last ten years.
32 Percentage of sales (per service or product group) carried out in currencies other than that of the home country of the business. Percentage of total physical volume of sales that is exported
33 Existence, details and status of any court litigation against the business or which the business has originated against others
34 A summary of the history of the business.
35 By-laws or articles of incorporation.
36 Existence, value and relevance of proprietary technology owned by the business (own research or purchased from another business?).
37 Percent of total expenses spent on humanitarian or not-for-profit activities (and the list of these activities).
38 Environmental report by an external independent agency evaluating the effect of the business on noise, air and water quality, as well as the health environment of both workers and citizens in a ten kilometer radius around the plant.
39 Statistics of the work-related injuries and deaths over the past ten years
40 Partnership agreements and quality assurance agreements with suppliers and customers
41 List of subsidiaries and affiliates.
42 Percentage of employees (structured by homogeneous classes) connected effectively via a broadband intranet/internet system.
Required
From the list above select the ten most important items you feel an investor might want to find, for her or his analysis and review, in a business’ annual report. Explain why you selected these and rejected the others. Examine whether the items you wish to provide investors originate in the accounting or in other information systems. If they do not originate in the accounting systems, explain which aspect of accounting regulation or practice may explain why these items have been excluded from the traditional reach of accounting.