Corporate Internet Reporting: An Asian Example

The rapid evolution of Internet technology has created the ability to disseminate information almost instantaneously to world-wide audiences and many businesses have already applied this capability. This paper reviews an empirical study into the extent and quality of Internet Financial Reporting (IFR) among the Top 40 Thai listed companies. A qualitative index was developed based on Cheng, Lawrence and Coy (2000) having four disclosure categories, namely content, timeliness, technology and user support. It was found that Thai companies provide financial information on the Internet as a complement to their traditional paper-based annual reports. The extent and quality of IFR practices varied widely among the firms and only a few companies apply the enhancements that the Internet technology can offer. The categories of disclosure relating to user support and content scored higher than timeliness and technology on the Thai companies’ websites. IFR practices of Thai listed companies are similar to companies in other countries with Thai firms increasingly reporting financial data on the Internet. However, there is a need for Thai firms to better utilise the Internet capabilities for financial reporting.