Qualities of useful financial information

Relevance

Financial information is regarded as relevant if it is capable of influencing the decisions of users.

Faithful Representation

This means that the financial information must be complete, neutral and free from error.

Comparability

It should be possible to compare an entity over time and with similar information about other entities.

Verifiability

If information can be verified l, this provides assurance to the users that is both credible and reliable.

Timeliness

Information should be provided to users within a timescale suitable for their decision-making purposes.

Understandability

Information should be understandable to those who may want to review and use it. This can be facilitated through appropriate classification, characterisation and presentation of information.