A Research The Timeliness Of Disclosing The Annual Report Of Listed Companies Based On The Perspective Of Information Supply Chain

The annual reports of listed companies can better reflect the operating conditions and investment value. As the part of the capital market information, the information-quality carried by the annual report plays a very important role on companies’own steady, healthy development and resource allocation efficiency in capital market, not only for the regulatory supervision, but also helps reduce the search costs of annual report information users’partly and the uncertainty in the decision-making process. The annual reports information users pay more and more attention on the timeliness of annual report disclosure, especially with the wide use of modern information technology and Internet technology in accounting and auditing work, they put forward higher requirements in terms of the annual report disclosure timeliness. The timely disclosure of annual report of listed companies can improve the quality of the annual report partly, enhance the use value of annual report information; and guarantee information users to make the right judgment and decision, safeguard the rights and interests of information users; and finally ensure effective regulation of the annual report information, reduce the degree of difficulty regulation and regulatory costs.The regulations in China request listed companies to disclose annual reports within four months by the end of each accounting year. Listed companies can choice the time of disclosing annual reports independently. So they have the ability to choose the annual report disclosure time to maximize their own interests, however this kind of behavior harm the interest of the annual report information users, at the same time, it disturbs the capital market, distorts the allocation of resources. By all A-share listed companies in2009-2012annual report disclosure time for statistical analysis, it finds that a total of8670A-share listed companies in four years, the number of listed companies, which discloses the annual reports, reaches44.6%and45.94%in March and April, and the trend is rising year by year. Especially in April, the rising trend is more obvious. Although the purpose of implementing the annual report disclosure booking system is to strengthen the proportionality of the annual reports disclosure and the transparency of the disclosure schedule, and prevent the listed companies from taking advantage of information advantages getting some behavior such as insider trading, which makes listed companies disclose annual report timely, the study finds that the annual reports disclosure booking system does not achieve the desired effect. With8669A-share listed companies in2009-2012,18.45%of the listed companies which change its annual report disclosure booking time. In this18.45%shares of the listed company, nearly half of them delay the annual report disclosure booking time.81.54%of listed companies disclose annual report in the annual report disclosure time, nearly90.82%of the listed companies make an appointment for the first time of the annual report disclosure time in March or April. There are still a large number of listed companies focus on disclosing annual report, require equilibrium of listed companies to disclose the annual report do not happen, also do not achieve the purpose of making timely disclosure the annual report. The phenomenon of listed companies which do not timely disclosure the annual report is widespread, whether it is to the value of the information carried by the annual report, or to the annual report information users, or to the securities regulators, which is very bad. Therefore, how to improve the current situation that listed companies do not disclose the annual report timely turns into an important problem to be solved in the current theory and practice.Based on the grim situation of listed companies that do not timely disclose the annual reports, most scholars are limited to a certain angle of corporate governance or on a link of the annual report process, study its impact on the annual report disclosure timeliness. However, the process of the annual reports from establishment to the final reached to the annual report information users, is the process which is to prepare as a starting point, after certified public accountants audit, approval of the board and public disclosure, eventually turns into the hands of the annual report information users. This process can be seen as a information supply chain. In this information supply chain, the produce of the annual reports involves more than one link, each link of the main players performs different work, produce different information, these main players complete the work in their link in time, timely and favoring to submit annual report information to the next link, ensure the information supply chain could operate fluently and effectively, they are the important basis of disclosing the annual reports in time finally. Therefore, the process of the annual reports from establishment to the final disclosure shall be seen as a whole to study the annual report disclosure timeliness, on the basis of fully based on the idea of supply chain coordination effect, through analyzing the main factors involved in the main players to finish their work timely on each link of the supply chain, control the factors which restrict the main players of each link in a timely manner to complete their work, from the source to restrain the listed companies’manner of not timely disclosure the annual report, so as to effectively improve the present situation of disclosing the annual report do not timely.This paper bases on the perspective of information supply chain, divides the annual report process into four links to study the timeliness problem of disclosing the annual report of listed companies, mainly from the following seven parts to study:The first part is the introduction, mainly introduces four aspects, such as the research background, significance, ideas and main contents and so on. Combination of normative research, statistical analysis and case analysis method to study the timeliness of the annual report disclosure.The second part is literature review, induces and summarizes the domestic and foreign scholars on the research status quo of disclosure timeliness of annual report of listed companies, and a brief commentary on the existing research results.The third part is the theory analysis of annual report disclosure timeliness. In this part, first discusses the theoretical basis of the annual report disclosure timeliness. This paper introduces the theory of supply chain to study the timeliness of disclosing the annual report, analysis of influence factors of the annual report disclosure timeliness, to provide the basis of improving the manner that listed companies do not disclose annual reports timely. Then, on the basis of summary and analysis of domestic and foreign academic study, defines the connotation of the annual report disclosure timeliness, information supply chain, etc.The fourth part is the overall status analysis of listed companies disclosing the annual report timely, mainly from two aspects to analyze the overall condition of disclosing annual report of listed companies at present, which are the annual report disclosure system background and the time trend of the annual report disclosure, uses statistical analysis and case analysis to prove the serious situation of not timely disclosing annual report at present in our country.The fifth part is the present situation analysis of the annual report disclosure timeliness, which bases on the main players of information supply chain. Based on the analysis of China’s annual report disclosure of listed companies on the overall situation, combining with the mainly players’working conditions of each link of supply chain, analyzes the possible factors that could restrict them finish their work not timely, and supplements by statistical analysis, finds out the direct reasons that influent the main players of each link that can not timely finish their work, and combining with relevant cases to in-depth analysis.The sixth part is the way of improving the annual report disclosure timeliness under the perspective of information supply chain. Mainly according to the fifth part which analyzed the reasons that influence main players of each link can not timely finish their work, study suggestions or measures that with pertinence and maneuverability, which may prompt main players of each link finish their work in time, by raising the timeliness of annual report disclosure of listed companies, ensure that the annual report passed into the hands of the annual report information users in a timely manner.The seventh part is the study of conclusion and prospect. Mainly induces and summaries the research results above, at the same time, analyzes the shortcomings of this paper,and put forward prospect for follow-up study.The innovation of this paper is based on the perspective of information supply chain, closely around the main information supply chain, uses the annual report of the production process as the breakthrough point, divides production process of the annual report information into four links, that is prepare annual report, audit, approval and disclosure, by the method of specification, combines with statistical analysis and case analysis at the same time, studies the factors respectively that affect main players of each link on supply chain can not complete work timely, on the basis of this is to discuss the way for the main players of each link to improve their work efficiency and ability, thus to improve the overall efficiency of the information supply chain, effectively coordinate the relationship between the main players of each link of the information supply chain, make the whole information supply chain in smooth operation, eventually to realize the target that provide the annual report to the annual report information users timely.The deficiencies of this article are summarized as follows:firstly, according to the characteristic of each link, this paper defines only one or two main participation body, and studies why the participation main body can not finish the work in time. However, this paper does not study the main participation body that will affect work efficiency of each link, and the possible benefit gambling relations between the main players so that it is not comprehensive in this paper. Secondly, this paper adopts statistical analysis and case analysis methods for better analysis of the problem, and tries to make it more persuasive. However, due to the data of the annual reports compiled link and approval link are not available, and related case analysis come from the author’s judgment of listed company announcements, there is a certain subjectivity and lack of convincing. Thirdly, as a result of the limitation of knowledge and practical experience, the analysis of relevant issues are not vivid, the individual solutions are inappropriate, and lacks operability to some extent.