What are the objectives of sound corporate financial reporting?

The objectives of corporate financial reporting given by Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) are summarized as follows: Financial reporting should provide information that is useful to investors and creditors and other users in making rational investment, credit and similar decisions. The information should be useful to both, the present and potential investors. Financial reporting should provide information about the economic resources of an enterprise the claims to those resources (obligations of the enterprise to transfer resources to other entities and owners equity) and the effects of transactions event, and circumstances that change resources and claims to those resources. Financial reporting should provide information about the enterprise's financial performance during a period. Investors and creditors often use information about the past to help in assessing the prospects of an enterprise. Financial reporting should provide information about how management of an enterprise obtains and spends cash, its borrowing and repayment of borrowing, capital transactions including cash dividends and other distributions of enterprise resources to owners, and other factors that may affect an enterprise's liquidity or solvency. Financial reporting should provide information about how management of an enterprise has discharged its stewardship responsibilities to owners (shareholders) for the use of enterprise resource entrusted to it. Financial reporting should provide information that is useful to management and directors in making decisions in the interest of owners.