Primary Users of Financial Statements & their Information Needs under IFRS

There are various different users of financial statements, each with different information needs. The older conceptual frameworks identified groups such as government and general public as primary users. However, the 2018 Conceptual Framework has cut this back to just three key groups.

The Conceptual framework lists the primary users of financial statements as:

  1. Investors – Both existing and potential investors provide, or may provide risk capital in the form of funding. This group will want to know what return to expect from their investment, and whether or not to invest further or sell their current holdings.
  2. Lenders – these are often banks and other providers of credit who want information that want information to help them understand if their loans will be repaid when due, and whether or not to issue new loans to the entity.
  3. Other Creditors – This will include trade suppliers who may want to know whether or not to sell goods/services on credit to the entity.
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