The theoretical framework behind internet financial reporting

Financial reporting on the Internet by corporations is now a recognized and widely used phenomenon. It is different in many respects from the traditional hard copy versions of financial reports. The interface for presentation may also vary, being html or adobe acrobat format. There needs to be a regulatory framework for financial reporting on the Internet to generate better quality and uniformity of Internet based financial reporting. There are various Sociological and Accounting theories that represent this process of disclosing financial reports on websites. The fundamental theories described in this paper include: Communications theory, Entity theory, Enterprise theory, Regulatory Capture theory, the User's cognitive learning process and Human-Computer Interaction theories. These theories can be used as the basis of the development of a regulatory framework for financial reporting on the Internet.