Report Frequency and Management Decisions

There is no theory to prescribe how frequently accounting reports should be issued for management decisions; indeed, one research study could not find evidence that frequency of reports is a variable in the decision process. Accounting reports are discrete aggregations from continuous processes, and frequency affects information content of reports. If frequency affects information, it therefore must be a variable in the decision process. This research investigated the question of whether the report frequency had any effect on evaluations made from accounting reports issued on different intervals. Evidence is presented to support the conclusion that frequency is a factor in the decision process and that decision behavior is affected by the frequency of reports. This report merely demonstrates the existence of the report frequency variable; much more research is necessary to control the variable for optimal system design.