The purpose of this essay was to identify the primary stakeholder in aid organisations, by which we mean whom they make their Annual report for, and to analyse if there were any differences considering the design of their Annual reports depending on which their primary stakeholder is. The method we used to explain the choice of primary stakeholder and the differences in the Annual reports was a multiple case study. The collected data came from telephone interviews with 23 representatives from aid organisations and a review of Annual reports. The results were analysed through pattern matching. We found that aid organisations do not have a primary stakeholder as in incorporated organisations.

Our essay treats the use of the Annual report when it comes to marketing. Today there are many different ways for companies to reach out with their different messages; the thing that caught our interest was if the Annual report is such a way.The Annual report is an external accounting report which task is to give information to interested parties of companies. The Annual report can be used to examine if the company has followed and achieved their goals. In other words it?s an important source of information that can be found about a company, which different interested parties can take part of for analyze.

Aim: A business ratio is a measuring instrument that companies use in their financial report to show profit and progress. As it is today, there are no standards to follow that shows which business ratio to present in a companies Annual report. Our aim with this report is to see if there are any trends in the use of business ratios by looking into how thirty growth companies are applying them.Method: To see what business ratios are used in practice, we have collected information from the thirty companies? Annual reports. With help from the literature, we have created an understanding about the most frequently used business ratios.

This essay is about how organizations reveal their employees in the Annual report. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which organizations reveals their employees in the Annual report, and the purpose has three questions: How do the organizations present their employees in the Annual report? What do they choose to report? What motives lies behind?The problem today is that organizations can´t account the employees as assets, they can only be accounted as an expense in the income statement. This can lead to that stakeholders can´t convey an organization's "true" value.With a combination study, we examined how organizations certified by Investors in People presents the employees in their Annual reports. In the framework, we have, among other things dealt with personnel mandatory disclosure in the Annual Account Act, the difference between private- and public sectors accounting.

This essay is about how organizations reveal their employees in the Annual report. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which organizations reveals their employees in the Annual report, and the purpose has three questions: How do the organizations present their employees in the Annual report? What do they choose to report? What motives lies behind?The problem today is that organizations can´t account the employees as assets, they can only be accounted as an expense in the income statement. This can lead to that stakeholders can´t convey an organization's "true" value.With a combination study, we examined how organizations certified by Investors in People presents the employees in their Annual reports. In the framework, we have, among other things dealt with personnel mandatory disclosure in the Annual Account Act, the difference between private- and public sectors accounting.

Background: To maintain or increase the trust in the market, companies can disclose more voluntary information in the Annual reports. According to prior research the Annual report is the primary source of information for small shareholders and investors. Thus, it is of interest to investigate why companies chose to report the voluntary information inquired by this group. Purpose: We investigate some company-specific factors to decide whether these determine the extent of voluntary information, particularly inquired by small shareholders and investors, in the Annual reports of listed Swedish companies. We also aim to discuss underlying causes for our result.

Background: Sweden is a country with 30 million memberships in different non- profit organizations. In total these organizations employees about 400 000 people, through employment and voluntary work. The complete turnover for non- profit organizations is 100 billion Swedish crowns per year. It has only since 2001 been compulsory to follow the Swedish account rules BFL and ÅRL. Trade unions are one type of non-profit organizations with the main purpose to care for the interest of its members concerning their working condition.

The purpose of this master´s thesis was to investigate the role and function of the Annual reports of public libraries: for what purpose are they put together and how are they evaluated and utilised. The study presents different views on the structure and content of library Annual reports. Focusing on a specific public library and its municipal administration, the authors identify and describe problems and possibilities regarding the library Annual reports. The study also provides a general view of their occurrence, their addressees and the importance attached to them.In a review of current literature on accounting and activity reports the authors place the Annual reports of public libraries in a wider context. The study also presents two current models of performance measurement - the Intangible Assets Monitor and the Balanced Scorecard - which were developed in the private sector, and the authors discuss their relevance when applied to public libraries.Data were collected both in interviews and by means of a questionnaire.

The first of May 2005 changes were made in the Annual Accounts Act. The 2006 Annual report of companies with more than ten employees or assets over 24 million SEK must include environmental information in the directors' report if it affects the company's development, result or position. A survey made by KPMG 2007 investigating the environmental information of companies listed on Large Cap Segment of the OMX Stockholm exchange showed that only a third of the companies, included in the survey, complied with the new law requirements. I have examined how the environmental information in the directors' report is formulated and why the information is formulated in that fashion. I have examined seven companies listed on the Large Cap Segment of the OMX Stockholm exchange. Four companies from the materials sector and three banks from the financials sector were included in the survey.

Background: Resources that are hard to put a value on and cannot be classified as assets in the balance sheet as well as the development towards the information society has led to an increasing need and use for voluntary information in the Annual reports. The increase of voluntary information can foremost be seen in the field of human resources.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe the development of voluntary information about human resources in the Annual report of a number of Swedish quoted companies. The purpose is also to see if there is a difference in the development between manufacturing companies and service companies.Method: Six manufacturing companies and six service companies were chosen from the Stockholm exchange A-list. Using both a qualitative and quantitative research method the Annual reports of the chosencompanies were studied for the years 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003. A model consisting of seven categories; health, diversity, recruitment, staff turnover and comfort, benefits and motivation, education and competence development, was developed to clarify were the development took place.Conclusions: After finishing the study one can tell that the amount of voluntary information about human resources in the Annual report has increased even though the percentage share of the total Annual report only has increased appreciably for manufacturing companies.

The visual representation of management (board of directors, chief executive officer and executive management) in Annual reports is an area of scholarship that has not been explored much. In the present study a sample of 87 Annual reports from business enterprises within a Swedish context, comprising about 300 photographs, was analyzed using an explorative method of analysis based on semiotics and grounded theory. The influence of the context on images raises a question discussed in the study: Should the photographs in the Annual report be categorized as portraits, advertisements and others or should the Annual report be regarded as a genre of its own? The photographs showed patterns of homogeneity regarding gender, dress, gestures, colours, pictorial compositions et cetera. The position of the (male) CEO is privileged, but he is also connected to the group through various means like dress and style, thereby further underscoring management as a male enterprise and demonstrating the importance of the suit and necktie in creating homosocial bonds.

This thesis investigates whether it is accordance between the different profit measures in the financial market. The first aim of the thesis is to examine if it exists a difference between the profit measures that companies publish in their fourth quarter interim report and the measures that they state in their Annual report, issued some months later. The second aim is to examine whether there is a divergence in definitions and the assumption regarding the risk of bankruptcy between profit measures published by companies and analysts. The study focuses on Swedish companies listed on the OMX Stockholm Large Cap and concerns the years of 2006 and 2007. The analysts interviewed are working in Sweden with listed Swedish companies.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate whether accounting quality is a priced factor by investors. The event studied is the release of year-end result and the release of the Annual report. To assess accounting quality a sample of 30 companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during 2003 to 2007 are studied. We assess accounting quality by the absolute size of discretionary accruals using the modified Jones model developed by Dechow et al. (1995).

Purpose: The main purpose of the thesis is to examine the consequences of applying IAS40 on the Swedish real estate companies? Annual reports. How does its application affect the companies? stockholders? capital and how do the companies solve the problems that occur due to the application of this standard.Method: The authors use both the qualitative and quantitative approaches to process the thesis. The primary data comprises of hard data in form of Annual reports and the secondary data consists of the soft data as direct interviews and email interviews.Theory: There aren?t any theories on the subject.

The purpose of this essay is to identify the costs of illness in different organizations, and compare the calculated result with the actual result in their Annual reports.We collected information thru interviews with the personnel manager in the selected organizations, and used the Annual reports to add necessary information.When we applied our model, we found that the selected organizations, in some cases, have a cost of illnes which is up to seven times higher than shown in their Annual reports. It?s, in general, the costs that aren?t related to the salary (additional costs), which are much higher than shown.The absence of a model that calculates the costs of illnes can result in wrongful decisions. If a model would be applied in an organization, it should increase the awearness of the actual costs of illnes, which can lead to better decisions througout the whole organization.This report is written in Swedish..