Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting receives much attention nowadays. Communication with stakeholders is a part of assumed social responsibility, thus the quality of information disclosed in CSR reports has a significant impact on fulfilment of the responsibility. The authors use content analysis of selected CSR reports to describe and assess patterns and structure of information disclosed in them. CSR reports of Polish companies have similar structures at a very high level of analysis, but a more detailed study reveals much diversity in approaches to the report’s content. Even fairly similar companies may devote significantly different amounts of space to the same issue. The number of similar stakeholders varies irrespectively of the company’s size. Considerable diversity of reporting patterns results from the nature of CSR reporting, because it concerns highly entity-specific issues. Thus, such considerable diversity is not surprising. However, many initiatives and efforts are devoted to greater comparability of reporting, so a greater degree of uniformity can be expected. Similar conclusions may be drawn from integrated reports’ analysis, though a small sample reflects the relative novelty of this trend.

The aim of this article is to answer the question whether the unreliability of the Altman bankruptcy prediction model may be caused by manipulations in financial statements. Our study was carried out on a group of 369 bankrupt Polish companies, with the research period covering the years 2011–2020. In the study, we divided the companies into two groups: those correctly classified by Altman’s model as at risk of bankruptcy, and companies for which the model did not indicate a significant bankruptcy risk. Using a logit model, we tested whether the probability of companies being correctly classified as failed depends on the risk of a manipulation of financial statements. We use Benford’s law to measure the risk of a manipulation of financial statements. We also repeated our study using panel data models. Our analyses show that the manipulation of financial statements is not the cause of the inaccurate predictions of the Altman model. On the contrary, the results of the analyses indicate that manipulations occurs for companies with a lower Z-score and therefore a worse financial situation. This means that a deterioration in the quality of financial statements can be a signal of an increasing probability of bankruptcy.

Objective: To assess the impact of two factors – legal regulations and cognitive errors among decision-makers – on the choice of simplifications in the accounting policy of micro and small entities.Research Design & Methods: Content analysis of disclosed accounting policy among micro and small entities in Poland was done in order to uncover simplifications the entities made in their accounting policy. Sampling was done using the Orbis Europe database; the sample size was 100 units.Findings: Only half of the eligible companies prepare abridged financial statements. Moreover, entities apply simplifications to which they are not entitled: restrictions on the application of the prudence principle and unconditional application of tax depreciation rates to the measurement of fixed assets are not allowed for the companies surveyed.Implications / Recommendations: This research shows that those responsible for accounting policy, when deciding on the scope of the simplifications, employ cognitive biases – including status quo bias, primacy effect and confirmation bias – resulting from heuristic thinking.Contribution: The contribution’s originality is based on the results of an empirical study of simplifications in the accounting policies of micro and small entities and the explanation of these results through the lens of decision-makers’ cognitive errors. Conclusions drawn from the research can be used both by legislators in reviewing legal regulations, and by managers charged with shaping accounting policy and applying simplifications.

Sprawozdawczość narracyjna obejmuje wiele ważnych trendów we współczesnej sprawozdawczości przedsiębiorstw: sprawozdawczość w zakresie społecznej odpowiedzialności, ochrony środowiska, ryzyka i informacji prospektywnych. W artykule przedstawiono stan badań nad jakością sprawozdań narracyjnych oraz jej determinantami. Wyróżniono grupy metod wykorzystujących indeksy ujawnień oraz analizy tekstowe, w tym tematyczne analizy treści, wskaźniki czytelności tekstu oraz analizy lingwistyczne. Przedstawiono również propozycję konstrukcji złożonego miernika oceny jakości ujawnień autorstwa S. Beretty’ego i B. Bozzolana. We wnioskach podkreślono, że narracyjny aspekt sprawozdawczości przedsiębiorstw obejmuje elementy perswazji, których wpływ na jakość informacji nie został do tej pory wystarczająco przebadany.