text: Narrative reporting, particularly the business
  review, is demanded more attention from the UK Financial Reporting
  Review Panel (FRRP).
  The FRRP’s annual report notes that during the
  past year, companies were often asked to provide more information
  to help explain apparent inconsistencies between narrative
  information in the front of the report and the audited accounts in
  the back end.
  In response, the panel intends to focus on
  ways to clearly link the narrative and accounts.
  “Our attention to narrative reporting reflects
  changes in the law and an increasing call for reports and accounts
  to tell a coherent story, with an eye to the future as well as the
  past,” FRRP chairman Bill Knight said.
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  By GlobalDataThe past year saw improvements in management
  descriptions of significant accounting policies and improvements in
  the disclosure of areas most affected by management judgement.
  The FRRP noted particular improvement during
  the period of economic uncertainty, which made it more important
  for management to explain the selection of one accounting option
  However, improvements could be made to the
  quality of reporting by smaller listed companies, which lack the
  levels of expertise of their larger peers.
  The FRRP is an independent regulator
  responsible for promoting high quality corporate governance and
  The panel examines annual accounts of public
  and large private companies to determine whether they comply with
  the Companies Act 2006.
  The FRRP annual report is based on the panel’s
  review of accounts in the year to 31 March 2010.
  During this time:
  - 308 sets of accounts were reviewed;
  - 146 companies were approached for further information or
  explanation; and, - 3 companies were the subject of a panel press release after
  having agreed to restate amounts reported in prior periods.