當公司準備其財務報告時，他們必須要：
1. 評估自身的持續經營（Going Concern）的能力。該財務報告必須以公司能夠持續經營的前提下準備，除非他們將結束營業或快將破產，以及披露所有可能會導致公司未能持續經營的事件或條件。如公司認為自身將未能持續經營，他們必須披露原因和如何準備有關的財務報告。
2. 使用權責發生基礎（Accrual basis of Accounting）的會計方法來準備Cash Flow Statement以外的財務報告。
3. 以重要性原則（Materiality）來報告不同性質的項目：重要的類似項目需獨立報告，不重要的非類似項目可一併報告。公司不能因為重要性原則上的不清晰分野而影響財務報告的可理解性。HKFRSs亦有某些特定的披露要求，但公司可以其重要性來決定是否披露：不重要的話可以不進行披露；重要的話可提供額外資料來令報告用家更明白某些交易或事件。
（某個／某些項目的重要性取決於其能否獨立／共同地地影響報告用家作出決定，這是以其金額大小和被忽略的性質來決定。）
4. 獨立地展現資產與負債，以及收入與開支，不能隨便互相抵銷（Offsetting），除非這能呈現有關交易真實的一面（Substance of a transaction）。（計算扣除估值津貼後的資產價值，doubtful debts allowances on receivables，並非互相抵銷。）公司在進行資產處置時可在其收益／損失中扣除進行資產所產生的開支。此外，公司也能互相抵銷不重要的外匯損益和出合售交易性金融資產的損益。
5. 至少每年一次準備財務報告（包含前一年的資料互相比較的資料）。如公司需要更改其年結月份或要用較長／較短的時間準備有關報告，則其必須提供原因和列明報告內的資料未能完全與前一年的資料互相比較。
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When entities are preparing for their Financial Statements, they need to:
1. assess their ability of going concern. The Financial Statements should be prepared on a going concern basis unless management either intends to cease trading or liquidate the entity, and they need to disclose any events or conditions that might affect their ability of going concern. In case they are not preparing the Financial Statement in going concern basis, they need to disclose the reasons and the alternate way they are preparing for the Financial Statements.
2. use the accrual basis of accounting to prepare Financial Statements (except Cash Flow Statement).
3. need to consider Materiality when presenting items with different nature: “An entity shall present separately each material class of similar items. An entity shall present separately items of a dissimilar nature or function unless they are immaterial…An entity shall not reduce the understandability of its financial statements by obscuring material information with immaterial information….“. HKFRSs have certain special disclosure requirements which the entities can decide to disclose them or not based on the materiality principle: not disclose if that is immaterial; or disclose with additional information if that enables users of Financial Statements to have better understanding of the transactions of events.
（”….items are material if they could, individually or collectively, influence the economic decisions that users make on the basis of the financial statements…depends on the size and nature of the omission or misstatement…“）
4. separately present the assets and liabilities, and the income and expenses, instead of offsetting them, unless this can reflect the substance of the transactions / events. （Measuring assets net of valuation allowances, eg doubtful debts allowances on receivables, is not offsetting.）. Entities can deduct the proceedings used in the disposal fixed asset from the gain or loss of the disposal. Besides, entities can also net off the immaterial “foreign exchange gains and losses or gains and losses arising on financial instruments held for trading“.
5. prepare Financial Statements at least once per year (including comparative information). Entities need to disclose the reasons and the fact that “the amounts presented in the financial statements are not entirely comparable” if they decide to change the year end of the Financial Statements, or prepare their Financial Statements less than or more than 1 year.
* words in Italic are the exact wordings from the standard
