Spanning over two millennia of time and five continents of space, this book narrates the unfolding of financial and business reporting. The first part of the book traces the origin of the 'company' as a form of organization and the evolution of bookkeeping. The second part: The Accounting Edifice, depicts events that led to the disclosure of the balance sheet, the profit and loss account, cash flow statements and the practice of auditing. In the third part: Reaching out to the Shareholders, the author explores the need for governance, reporting of intangible assets and the emergence of annual reports. Indian Corporate Disclosures, the fourth and the last part, sketches the panorama of post-independent dvelopments in Indian corporate disclosures using heritage IT companies, Wipro and Infosys as examples. The last chapter of the book contrasts disclosures by the Indian Sensex companies in 2007 with the best global practices.

Spanning over two millennia of time and five continents of space, this book narrates the unfolding of financial and business reporting. The first part of the book traces the origin of the 'company' as a form of organization and the evolution of bookkeeping. The second part: The Accounting Edifice, depicts events that led to the disclosure of the balance sheet, the profit and loss account, cash flow statements and the practice of auditing. In the third part: Reaching out to the Shareholders, the author explores the need for governance, reporting of intangible assets and the emergence of annual reports. Indian Corporate Disclosures, the fourth and the last part, sketches the panorama of post-independent dvelopments in Indian corporate disclosures using heritage IT companies, Wipro and Infosys as examples. The last chapter of the book contrasts disclosures by the Indian Sensex companies in 2007 with the best global practices.