Inspecting books and records sounds complicated, but it’s fairly straightforward. A company’s performance is something investors want to keep track of. Stockholders should be concerned with the success of their company as their performance influences profit.
Investors have the right to “inspect the books and records" of the companies they’re invested in. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also enforces reporting requirements for publicly traded companies by requiring these documents to be created and distributed regularly:
10-K annual report
10-Q quarterly report
Sign up for free to take 4 quiz questions on this topic