What Is the Basic Objective of Interim Reporting?
The basic objective of interim reporting is to provide current information regarding enterprise performance to existing and prospective investors, lenders, and other financial statement users. This enables these users to act upon relevant information in making informed decisions in a timely manner. The demand for timely information (e.g., SEC filings on Form 10-Q are due in no greater than 45 days after period end, whereas filings on Form 10-K are due, depending on entity size, as long as 90 days after year-end) means that interim data will often be more heavily impacted by estimates and assumptions.
