Corporate Website Disclosures and Financial Reporting Quality

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between corporate website disclosures and financial reporting quality. Using a sample of the S&P 500 and S&P 400 firms, a voluntary website disclosure score is created by identifying specific website disclosures. After controlling for website disclosure requirements imposed by U.S. stock exchanges, the results indicate that firms with greater website disclosures are associated with lower abnormal accruals and differential persistence of cash flows and operating accruals. Additionally, using the Chen, Miao, and Shevlin (2015) measures for disaggregation quality of financial statement items, the results suggest that the association between financial reporting quality and website disclosures is driven by the incremental value provided by the information rather than the quantity of information. Firms that provide more complete financial statements, measured by non-missing Compustat items, are less likely to reproduce that information on their websites but are more likely to provide incremental disclosures, including non-GAAP earnings measures, unaudited financial information, and forward-looking information. The overall results of this study suggest a symmetric relationship between the audited financial reports and both the level and type of website disclosures.