... require, or contract for, the preparation of special reports to meet their specific information needs'1. This implies that GPFR's are just as useful in the decision making process to external users as SPFR's are to the internal users who request them. A common example of GPFR's helping users make decisions in the business world are potential investors and creditors utilising the data contained within the financial statements to calculate financial ratios which describe the business' liquidity, solvency and profitability. By comparing these ratios with those calculated from the financial statements of other businesses, the business' liquidity, solvency, efficiency and profitability relative to industry standards can be determined and thus an assessment made on how competitive the business is. By comparing these ratios with those calculated from the business' previous years' financial statements, an assessment can be made on whether the business is on the rise or in decline. Utilising the comparisons ...

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