P(ROFE SS()w Rt CHARI) G. P. MCMAH1ON 1S hlead of the Sc(hool of Cominerce at the Fl incle rs t.J"niversity of South Austrialia. Alsti-alba. The obj ctiXe of this papet is to preselmt nieNv empirical evideince oii financial r eporting to financiers by small and mnedilun-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are engaged in imianufactttring it) A,ustralia and which are legally organisedl as pr oj)iictarvx com-lpanies. The pr imiary c o0nc c rn is xv ith pi eparation and lisseminiation to extet nal providers of finanic e of general purpose financial i eports thiat imiay be historical and/oi litture olienited. The niature and(l frtecqencx of formal financial repor tinig, illnclel takinig financial audits, the closetiess of ielationships with financiers o'tside of fornmal financial reporting, iespondents' xiews oIn how well their financiers appear to understand theii busillesses, and the propensity for the imaniufactturinig SMEs studied to change their finian-icicrs are all considered. The fin-idings suggest that compared with other Atustralian SME research, finianicial r eporting to financiers by the collaborating businesses is evidentix, eiv conmprehensive. This mutst be secen as encouraging from a finiancial conitrol viexpoinlt anid in terims of facilitatinig ac(ess to essenitial growth fuindingo
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