Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to present the issues of impression management in annual reports used to shape the opinions and decisions of stakeholders in analyzed enterprises. Using studies in the literature, it discusses the specificity of annual reports as a source of financial and non-financial information about a company. It also presents different strategies of impression management. The empirical part of the work verifies questions concerning the application of impression management strategies and methods for assessing it. The method applied in this analysis was a case study-based one. The work contributes to the development of a research trend exploring narratives in reporting by indicating the possibility of extending the analytical database with management commentary (business report), as an obligatory element of the annual report for the majority of enterprises pursuant to the Accounting Act.