ABSTRACT
The Companies Act, 1907, took the decisive step of requiring the annual filing of an audited statement in the form of a balance sheet containing a summary of the company's capital. The Life Assurance Companies Act, 1870, imposed upon companies carrying on life business the obligation of preparing, registering and providing, on request, to shareholders and policyholders. The balance sheet, since the trend of profits is the best indication of the prosperity of the company and the value of the assets depends largely on the maintenance of the business as a going concern. Business corporations enjoying limited liability had, indeed, been known for a much longer period, but owed their existence to Royal Charters or to special Acts of Parliament. Parliament struck out of the company law the whole of the compulsory accounting and auditing legislation of the 1844 Act.
