What are the characteristics of the information the public wants?

What are the characteristics of the information the public wants?

The ASB Board undertook research to understand the public’s information needs in relation to the financial statements. This included understanding what the characteristics should be of the information to enable effective engagement with the information.

For the public to be able to locate and use information, it should be communicated to them in a certain way. The most notable characteristics of how information should be reported are that information should be:

• Simple and concise, so that information is understandable
  Most members of the public do not have the skills and level of education necessary to use information in financial statements, or the wider annual report and integrated report. Therefore, information should be reported to them in a simple and concise way.To make information more understandable, it should be accompanied by simple explanations and should tell the public a story of how an entity has performed. It will further assist the public to understand information if it is presented in an interesting way, e.g. by using graphics, graphs and charts, and animations.

• Provided across multiple platforms and free of charge, so that information is accessibleEntities should carefully consider mechanisms they use to report information so that it is accessible to the public. The best way to reach the public is for entities to use a combination of platforms, e.g. websites, radio and television, face-to-face engagements, etc. Information should also be available free of charge and in a manageable format, e.g. a 2-page document that can be downloaded easily.

• Timely and regular, so that information is relevant
  The public needs more in-year information, as audited annual information is historical and is provided too late for the public to take action.

• Reliable, so that information is trustworthy

The public needs information they can trust. This means entities should report quality information that is clear, accurate, unbiased, balanced and objective. For this reason, the public prefers audited information.

Although it may not be possible for entities to meet all the public’s needs, they should try to find a balance with the way in which they communicate information.

The Board has published the results of the research in a Research Paper on Reporting Information to the Public to assist entities to better report information to the public. Entities are encouraged to consider what they report, and how they can better package and communicate currently reported information, to meet the public’s needs. Access the Research Paper: (https://www.asb.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Research-Paper-on-Reporting-Information-to-the-Public.pdf).