Annual reports can be described as the financial statements that are published yearly in companies and get sent to different stakeholders. The reports discuss the company’s perspective for the coming year and company’s prospects and place, as well as the year’s operations. These requirements are met in many ways within the companies, annual report at its basic includes:

• Photos, narrative text and graphics

• Overall explanation of the trade in which the company is involved.

• Financial highlights

• Management discussion and analysis of the company business condition in relation to the results of the past years published financial condition.

• Auditors reports

• A most recent brief description of the company’s business

• Information that directly relates to the various business segments of the company

• Listing of the principal occupations of the company’s executive officers and directors and the main trade of the company that employs them in case they are at the directorate level

• Letter to the shareholders

• Market value of the company dividends and stock paid; some businesses only offer this minimal amount of information. Yearly reports of this nature are often only a few pages in length and produces in a cheaper manner. On a closer look, the final draft often looks like a duplicated document. In such situations, the primary role of the report is simply to adhere to regulations.

• Income financial positions audited statement, cash flow, income and notes to the statements giving information for various line items.

The 10-K can be described as a company’s comprehensive performance summary report that on a yearly basis has to be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The report is freely available to the public, and it apparently contains much more information as compared to an annual report. For instance, the difference between the two documents lies in the fact that, within the 10-K report there are inclusions such as equity of the company, history, organizational structures, subsidiaries, holdings and value per share among others not included within the annual report.

Corporate governance refers to the legal and non-legal principles and practices hosts that impact publicly held business corporations management. Well implemented corporate governance can be compared to the internal affairs of the police departments unit, eliminating and weeding out problems with extreme prejudice so as to mitigate the demands of the people affected.