Corporate financial reporting and the small independent company

The Companies Act 1981 (the 1981 Act) introduced a three-tier size classification of companies with the aim, inter alia, of easing the accounting burden on small firms (The Treasury, 1981). Legislation in this area arose from the interaction between the need to enact the provisions of the EEC Fourth Directive on Company Accounts and a climate of policies favourable to small business generally. The Act was preceded by a period of intense discussion within the accounting profession about appropriate financial accounting requirements for small companies. The discussion cove red all aspects of financial reporting but emphasised the question of whether small companies need an audit, a question explicitly posed by a Department of Trade Green Paper, ‘Company Accounting and Disclosure’ (GB Dept of Trade, 1979).