2004 saw a number of statutory instruments affecting financial statements and annual reports, with application dates affecting 2005 and 2006 year-ends.
All but the smallest companies must now include in their Directors’ Report a ‘fair review of the business’, including analysis using key performance indicators together with disclosure regarding the use of financial instruments. Proposed dividends are no longer accrued unless approved before the year-end and unlisted companies now have the option to prepare IFRS accounts. All of these changes have already been covered in our Winter 2005 and Spring 2006 Financial Reporting newsletters.
The final change to come out of these statutory instruments is in relation to the disclosure of auditors’ remuneration. While in the past all but the smallest companies have had to disclose details of amounts paid to their auditors split between audit and non-audit services, for periods beginning on or after 1 October 2005, new rules require that
