what is an interim statement 
an interim statement is a financial report covering a period of less than one year interim statements are used to convey the performance of a company before the end of normal full year financial reporting cycles unlike annual statements interim statements do not have to be audited interim statements increase communication between companies and the public and provide investors with up to date information between annual reporting periods these may also be referred to as interim reports understanding interim statementsa quarterly report is an example of an interim statement because it is issued before year end the international accounting standards board iasb suggests certain standards be included while preparing interim statements these include a series of condensed statements covering the company s financial position income cash flows and changes in equity along with notes of explanation the iasb also suggests that companies should follow the same guidelines in their interim statements as they use in preparing their annual reports which are audited including the use of similar accounting methods interim statements offer a more timely look into a business s operations rather than waiting until year end statements which do not officially become available for months after year end close anyway investors find the periodic snapshots helpful when allocating investment capital all of which leads to greater market liquidity a prime goal of capital markets these reports can also alert investors and analysts to recent changes that meaningfully affect the corporation a form 8 k for instance is used to report unscheduled material events or corporate changes at a company that could be of importance to the shareholders or the securities and exchange commission sec the report notifies the public of events reported including acquisition bankruptcy resignation of directors or a change in the fiscal year form 8 k reports may be issued based on other events up to the company s discretion that the registrant considers to be of importance to shareholders example quarterly reportsthe most common interim statement may be the quarterly report a quarterly report is a summary or collection of un audited financial statements such as balance sheets income statements and cash flow statements issued by companies every quarter three months in addition to reporting quarterly figures these statements may also provide year to date and comparative e g last year s quarter to this year s quarter results publicly traded companies must file their reports with the securities exchange commission this form known as a 10 q does not include all the detailed information such as background and operations detail that the annual report known as a 10 k would the sec also mandates that investment companies file quarterly reports if they manage more than 100 million using a form 13f most companies have an accounting period that ends with the calendar year dec 31 and quarters that end on march 31 june 30 september 30 and december 31 quarterly reports are typically filed within a few weeks of a quarter s end 