This paper examines the purpose and users of financial statements which can include present and future shareholders, creditors, employees, the government and the public at large. It looks at how the statement of principles focuses the attention of both regulatory authorities and the reporting entities on what it considers to be the main users of financial statements and current and future investors. It also discusses how there is clearly a limit to the amount of information that can be disclosed in a set of financial statements, as too much information would overwhelm users, who would not then be able to find the information relevant to them.

"According to the Accounting Standards Board, the Statement of Principles contains the philosophy of what the Accounting Standards Board is trying to achieve through the process of issuing accounting standards, and can be used to some extent as the mission statement of the Accounting Standards Board. In the Statement of Principles, several users of financial statements are identified (Accounting Standards Board 1999). These include present and future shareholders, creditors, employees, the Government, and the public at large. With such a diverse set of users for a company??s financial statements, it would be very difficult for a set of accounts to successfully satisfy the informational needs of all users fully. This is why the Statement of Principles focused the attention of, both regulatory authorities and the reporting entities, on what it considers to be the main users of financial statements, current and future investors."