Although companies must follow set rules for how they format the key financial statements in an annual financial report, how they present the rest of the report is left to their creativity. No matter how fancy or plain the annual report is, as a careful reader, you need to focus on four key parts, listed in order:

• Auditors' report: This includes statement by the auditors regarding the findings of their audit of the company's books
• Financial statements: These include the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows.
• Notes to the financial statements: These give additional information about the information found in the financial statements.
• Management's discussion and analysis: Management gives its perspective regarding the company's results.