Full Disclosure Principle

The full disclosure principle states that any future event that may or will occur, and thatwill have a material economic impact on the financial position of the business, should be disclosed to probable and potential readers of the statements. Such disclosures are most frequently made by footnotes. For example, a hotel should report the building of a new wing, or the future acquisition of another property. A restaurant facing a lawsuit from a customer who was injured by tripping over a frayed carpet edge should disclose the contingency of the lawsuit. Similarly, if accounting practices of the current financial statements were changed and differ from those previously reported, the changes should be disclosed. Changes from one period to the next that affect current and future business operations should be reported if possible. Changes of this nature include changes made to the method used to determine depreciation expense or to the method of inventory valuation; such changes would increase or decrease the value of ending inventory, cost of sales, gross margin, and net income or loss. All changes disclosed should indicate the dollar effects such disclosures have on financial statements.
Ask investors what kind of financial information they want companies to publish and you 'll probably hear two words: more and better. Quality financial reports allow for effective, informative fundamental analysis. The word "transparent" can be used to describe high-quality financial statements. The term has quickly become a part of business vocabulary. Dictionaries offer many definitions for the word, but those synonyms relevant to financial reporting are "easily understood", "very clear", "frank", and "candid". Consider two companies with the same market capitalization, same overall market-risk exposure, and the same financial leverage. Assume that both also have the same earnings, earnings growth rate and similar returns on capital. The difference is that Company A is a