Financial Reporting on The Internet By Malaysian Companies: Perceptions And Practices

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Internet has been described as a new platform for distributing financial information. It is a platform that exhibits distinctive and attractive features that make it an effective option when compared with the traditional platform. In this context, the objective of this study is to investigate the perceptions of Malaysian chief financial officers (CFOs) on the usefulness, vis-a-vis benefits and costs, of the reporting and disclosure of financial information on the corporate Web sites. The perceptions of the controllers were solicited using a mailed questionnaire which achieved a response rate of 35.04 per cent. Taken as a whole, the findings of the study suggest that generally the benefits, both to the companies and the users of financial information, are perceived to be greater than the costs (thus, useful) of adopting the Internet as another means of disclosing and distributing corporate financial information. In addition, it has been found that firm's size and profitability are significant ...