ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the broad content of Annual Report and Accounts (AR&A) in terms of regulatory and discretionary disclosures from the mid-Victorian period onwards and how they changed in response to ideas put forward by accounting thinkers. The AR&A is a commodity supplied by management to satisfy the demand for financial information from shareholders and other interested parties. The chapter suggest that a broad picture of how the content of AR&A published by registered companies was regulated, from 1844 onwards, and how financial reporting was actually done. It summarizes the regulations imposed on the content of corporate financial statements (CFS) that companies have been required to supply to their investors and file with the Registrar of Companies. The chapter draws attention to the role of accounting thinkers in the early development of CFS before moving on. It discusses the key features of AR&A published during the mid-Victorian era.
