SORRY, we cannot give you the operating profits of the various divisions. This has been the refrain of many a corporate management and their communications executives for many years.1 Now, with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India making segment reporting mandatory to accountingperiods commencing on or after April 01, 2001, the stakeholders have a better chance of assessing division-wise performance. There is always a need for information among the stakeholders of the company and therefore it becomes more important for a company to disclose relevant information about various segments in which it is operating, specially when significant differences exists among these segments.

Segment reporting represents yet another step towards more transparent reporting. Financial statements are now required to report their segment resources utilized and performance thereof in accordance with management's organizational and internal reporting structure. Though the concept of segment reporting is new to India it is being followed in western countries-in USA since 1971.

Segment reporting involves breaking down the enterprise into its component parts or segments and reporting financial information on a disaggregated basis for each of the segments.2 Today the amount of segment information required by countries around the world differs significantly, both in terms of items disclosed and the number of segments reported, depending upon the accounting standard to which they are required to adhere to.

In view of ICAI's AS 17, SEBI has also mandated segment-wise disclosure vide clause 41 of the listing agreement. Disclosures have to be made in the prescribed format for revenue, results and capital employed. The companies have to make the disclosure quarterly instead of ICAI's recommended annually. This measure is intended to provide better information to the investor of the risks involved in investing in a particular company.

Segment Reporting, reporting, information, segment, company, dental, stakeholders, product, enterprise, financial, ICAI's, communications, contributes, corporate, crutch, despite, entities, fobbed, investor, multiproduct, organizational, revenue, capital, shareholders, transparent.