The Function of Financial Reporting in Family Firms

Abstract: The objective of financial reporting has mainly been discussed in the accounting literature with reference to the stewardship/accountability and decision-usefulness perspective. The latter objective is emphasised by standard setters, but the accounting literature argues for a stronger emphasis on the stewardship/accountability perspective. The discussion surrounding the objective is largely conducted with large public companies as a foundation. Thus, the thesis aims to explore the function of financial reporting in small private family businesses as they account for a large amount of the existing corporations. The study relies on a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews and a document study on the financial reports to fulfil the purpose of the study. The study shows that the function of financial reporting is revolved around evaluating firm performance and using the financial report as a communication tool to external users. The findings indicate tendencies of the decision-usefulness, but the stewardship/accountability objective is more apparent. Also, the concept of socioemotional wealth appears to be related to the stewardship/accountability objective and the function of financial reporting.