Introduction In today's competitive supermarket industry, one of the largest companies is Tesco plc. Tesco operates 2,318 stores in 12 countries and employs 380,000 people worldwide. As with other companies in the market, the main purpose of the company is to maximize profit for its owners. Also Tesco is trying to expand into the international market, so you can find some Tesco supermarkets in continental Europe, some parts of Asia and some cities in the United States. As other public companies do, Tesco must provide the public with annual reports that include the company's financial statements, such as the cash flow statement, profit and loss statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet statement. The IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) regulatory framework has developed a number of characteristics that should be taken into account when evaluating the usefulness of these financial statements. Qualitative Characteristics To begin with, financial reports are not perfect, because the information within the statements made primarily for investors and there is not much direct information for the company's other stakeholders. However, other users may use assumptions and find useful information by examining the financial information provided in annual reports. Tesco's financial statements are classified according to four qualitative characteristics of the IASB framework. They are: understandability, relevance, reliability and comparability. Tesco reports provide notes to the group's financial statements for a deeper understanding of the financial accounts. Making the information understandable is the least achievable goal, because the financial information contained in the statements includes calculations, terms,... half of the document... ing. Second edition, Prentice Hall Europe 1985, 1994; 1994. P 1135. http://www.iasb.org/NR/rdonlyres/8C532526-9CE7-49B6-84BB-446BEDA65541/0/ias07sum.pdf6. Weetman, P. (2011). Financial and management accounting. An introduction. . 5th ed. London: Financial Times publishing imprint Pitman Publishing. p175.7. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1548956/Tesco-in-numbers.html8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_statement9. Brammer,J., Cox,D., Fardon, M and Penning,A. (2002). Active accounting. A simple guide to financial and managerial accounting. 2nd ed. Worcester: Osborne Books Limited. p25310. Britton, A., & Waterstone, C. (2010). Financial accounting. 5th ed. London: Pearson Limited Company. p66.11. Finch, C. (2008). A student's guide to International Financial Reporting Standards. 2nd ed. Wokingham: Kaplan Publishing UK. P7.