OK, here goes..
RelevanceFinancial statements provide info about a business's financial performance and position. These can b used as the basis for financial decisions. It is important that the info is provided in time for these decisions to be made : info not available whn it is required is of little use.
Reliability:The info provide in financial statements can be reliable if it is:
- capable of being depended upon by users as being a true representation of the underlying transactions n events which it is representing
- capable of being independantly verified
- free from bias
- free from significant errors
- prepared with suitable caution being appiled to any judgements and estimates which r necessary
ComparabilityThe info contained in financial statements can b useful if it can b compared with similar info about the same bizniz for another accounting period or at another point in time it is also useful to be able to compare the info with similar info about other businesses.
In order to make comparisons, it is necessary to be aware of any different policies used in the preparation of the financial statements, and changes in these policies and effects of such changes. It is imprtant to b able to identify similarities n differences between the info in the financial statement and the info relating to other accounting periods or other businesses.
UnderstandabilityIt is important that financial statements can b understood by the users of those statements. The depends partly on the clarity of the ino provided.
It also depends on the abilities of the users of the financial statements. It is normally assumed that users of financial statements have a reasonable knowledge of business and economic activities and accounting and that they wil be reasonably diligent when studying the financial statement. However info should not be omitted from financial statements becuz it is decided that it is too difficult for users to understand.
Hope that helped
Plus, refer
Section 2.1 (Supplement part) of the accounting syllabus, for a shorter brief overwiew.