Source Review on Great Graphics

In the article "Great Graphics", Zekany and Elsass (2004) highlight the relavence of the inclusion of Graphics and tables in financial reports. They go further and outline the importance of these graphics being accurate and understandable and how the author should go about ensuring this. This article is somewhat useful in relation to the Report Assesment Task as it acknowledges key features of how to accurately display data relevant to a financial report easily and understandably.

This article is related to the Assessment Task on financial reports and how to effectively communicate relevant information to shareholders and investors. Zeakany and Elsass argue for clear and numerically accurate date illustration. To support their argument the author presents 3 key focus area's; Decision of Useful Content, Data Sets and The Presentation covering graphing errors, determining relevant information and the accurate presentation method. Whilst the author outlines valid points on potential errors and effective solutions as it only gives a general outline thereby limiting, the relevance to the Assessment Task and how the graphics can focus on the interests of stockbrokers and potential investors is not touched on.

The text is set out in a logical and coherent style with the main topic points of the authors views outlined. Each potential issue is diagnosed and compared with the appropriate solution. With the use of academic language terms the relavent information of each point is easily distinguishable. Reliability of the evidence is therefore ensured.

The article is written by two people both with a reputable employment history in two different fields: Accounting and Business Admin as well as computer applications. Their combined knowledge would be a valuable source. However, even though each issue is associated with a solution and example, the evidence to support their case is minimal, as each point is fairly brief there is no references or actual examples on how the points raised have been effective in helping the person giving the report to improve the understanding and knowledge of the people viewing the display.