The presentation of financial information at corporate Web sites

Abstract

The advent of the World Wide Web has provided a new avenue for companies to communicate with current and potential investors. Our study investigates corporate Web site financial disclosure practices. We evaluate and compare the Web site disclosure levels of 17 industries, and summarize the frequencies with which a variety of financial disclosure items are found. Our examination identifies several practices that raise potential concerns for the accounting profession. In particular, we investigate annual report excerpts tailored for Internet users and identify information found at Web sites that may increase disclosure risk. We also discuss issues associated with locating and using Web site data.