Interpretation of the "Financial Reporting" Definition

The unified terminology allows to eliminate the ambiguity of the interpretation of the same concepts, facilitates the use of definitions in the learning process, helps to simplify the relationship between different participants and partners of economic activities. The purpose of the article is to deepen the content of the term "financial reporting" based on the analysis and systematization of the definitions proposed by various researchers and national regulatory documents and IFRS. Interpretations of the "financial reporting", which are contained in the legislative and regulatory documents of Ukraine were analyzed. The main differences in the interpretation of financial reporting by national and international accounting standards were identified. It was determined that in the legislative and regulatory documents of Ukraine the interpretation of financial reporting is based on the composition of reporting forms. The interpretation according to international standards is based on the purpose of preparing financial statements and its purpose. The approaches of domestic and foreign scientists to the interpretation of the concept of "financial reporting" were systematized. The limited presentation of financial reporting by representatives of the first approach was proved, according to which financial reporting is a set of forms or a set of generalized indicators, because this approach does not disclose reporting as an element of the accounting method. Attention is drawn to the inexpediency of interpreting a term based on the role and importance of financial reporting because the reporting is a multifaceted concept. Based on the results of the study it was proved, that the "Financial reporting" and "General-purpose financial statements" are not identical concepts. The arguments presented in the article indicate the need for further standardization of accounting in terms of the application of a unified terminological apparatus.