Auditor's report

The auditor's formal statement on whether the accounts give a true and fair view. It sits at the front of the financial statements and takes four minutes to read, which makes it the best-value page in the document.

Three parts carry information. The opinion itself, which is clean or is not. The key audit matters, which are the areas the auditor found hardest and therefore the areas where judgement moved the numbers most. And the emphasis of matter paragraphs, which flag something the auditor wants you to notice without qualifying the opinion.

For Indian filings the annexure on internal financial controls and the auditor's comments under the Companies (Auditor's Report) Order add detail on loans, deposits and defaults that appears nowhere else.

An auditor resignation mid-term, with a vague reason, is among the strongest negative signals available to a public investor.

Four minutes, at the front. Read it first.