CIMA E1 Syllabus A. Role of the finance function - Good Information - Notes ^{5 / 5}

Businesses are often criticised for producing too much information simply because their information systems can do it.  

A good way of ensuring relevance is to closely define the objectives of any information report and produce information that are ACCURATE.

A – Accurate
C – Complete
C – Cost
U – Understandable
R – Relevant
A – Adaptable
T – Timely
E – Easy to use

• Accurate 

  - information should be sufficiently accurate for its intended purpose and the decision-maker should be able to rely on the information.

• Complete 

  – the more complete information is, the more reliable it will be.

• Cost 

  – the information should not cost more to obtain than the benefit derived from it.

• Understandable 

  – user friendly information is much more readily acted upon.

• Relevant 

  – the information provided should concentrate on the essentials and ignore trivia (useless information)

• Adaptable 

  – information should be tailored to the needs and level of understanding of its intended recipients

• Timely 

  – information that is out-of-date is a waste of time, effort and money

  for e.g. receiving certain reports only when specific milestones are achieved / not achieved ensures that the information received is timely