Guidance

Best Practice report for 2023 to 2024

Published 10 April 2025

HM Treasury has published examples of best practice in financial reporting annually since April 2019 and is committed to supporting the continuous improvement of financial and non-financial reporting.

This report contains examples of best practice from the 2023-24 PDF versions of annual reports and accounts (ARAs). These publications provide a bank of best practice examples that can be used by entities preparing ARAs across government to drive ongoing improvements.

The following are exemplary examples of:

Best Practice in Financial Reporting involves: transparency, with balanced reporting and the use of trend data; accessibility, using visuals and straightforward language; accountability, specifically in sustainability and risk reporting, and clear presentation, using infographics and diagrams.

Entities have faced some challenges when producing their ARAs this year, including the timing of the 2024 General Election.

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1. Transparency

All ARAs should practice transparency, presenting information in a balanced way that utilises context. Disclosures should align with significant risks and organisational objectives, providing a full picture of the department’s accounts. Disclosures should give a broad and relevant perspective that reflects both more successful and less successful  (or failed) responses to risks and objectives.

Point 2.6.12 of the FReM defines transparency as depending ‘not just on how much data is published but on how it is turned into information that readers can understand’¹. It should be understood, therefore, that a transparent approach allows the user to reach conclusions that are accurate and informed by wider contexts. Transparency can be achieved, therefore, by including balanced information within a wider context of trend data.

1.1 Balanced Reporting

It is crucial for departments to present information in a balanced way. This allows for a more accurate picture of the department’s performance, building the user’s trust that the ARA is accurate and trustworthy. Paragraph 2.6.15 of the FReM makes clear that ‘a financial report that tells only the good news may undermine readers’ trust, even if what is reported is accurate’.

The following are examples of balanced and accurate financial reporting.

Office of Rail and Road (ORR)

Pages 41 and 42 of the Office of Rail and Road's (ORR) Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• The ORR presents a clear overview of the goals set out in their business plan, presenting the goals as specific and measurable provisions².

• The table provides detail about the success of the department, using colour coding to show progress towards the goal.

• The use of percentages add detail to show how close the department is to achieving their goals.

• Where goals have not been met, ORR offers an understandable and concise explanation of why, as well as indicating ORR’s plan to achieve this goal in the future.

Charity Commission

Page 14 of the Charity Commission's Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• The Charity Commission also demonstrates a balanced overview of their achievements³.

• They present an explanation of the aims set out in their operational performance standards, alongside what they have achieved against these aims.

• Like ORR, the Charity Commission has included clear explanations where aims have not been fully met.

• They also include explanations that compare the achievements against previous years, providing a wider context of departmental performance.

• The information provided presents a full and balanced view of the Charity Commission’s aims and their progress towards them.

1.2 Using Trend Data

To build user trust, departments should provide trend data where possible. This places departmental performance in a wider context, allowing the user to reach informed conclusions. FReM para. 3.4.1 makes clear that ‘context is key to understanding what any information in a financial report means. Sharing trend data can help build trust in the information presented.’ FReM para. 3.4.2 encourages departments to aim to include trend data from the last five years, as this allows for narrative reporting to make trends clear.

It should be understood that some reporting entities may not be able to provide trend data (e.g., due to machinery of government changes where comparable data more difficult to acquire and separate).

The following departments use trend data effectively, exceeding the expectations set out in the FReM by including more than five years’ data or by providing comparative data quarterly as well as annually. For more information for presenting charts and tables in government documents, the Government Analysis Function has produced useful guidance.

Department for Education (DfE)

Page 70 of Department for Education's (DfE) Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• DfE have included several examples of trend data to show the department’s long-term performance, adding beneficial context to aid transparency and provide context⁴.

• DfE have included trend data from the last nine years. This is an exemplary example of going beyond the requirements of the FReM to improve user experience. The user can build a greater, more long term and more in-depth understanding of the department’s performance.

The graph occupies its own page, uses different colours to compare two different factors, and has accompanying explanatory information. These factors make the graph easy to interpret and understand from a user’s perspective.

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)

An extract of the Crime Prosecution Service's (CPS) Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• CPS includes effective trend data, displayed in graphs and tables, within the HTML version of their ARA⁵. This ensures all users have equal access to trend data and the context it provides.

• Where departments can utilise HTML for their ARAs, this makes ARAs more accessible to a wider range of users. CPS uses both an HTML format and the inclusion of infographics to further expand accessibility.

• Departments should liaise with their audit team about producing an HTML publication to ensure that the HTML version is useful to a variety of users and is materially similar to the PDF version of the report.

• The trend data uses colours to compare different categories of decisions completed, and like the DfE example, incorporates explanatory narrative.

• CPS presents information both in quarters and the full year, with a table alongside to present useful statistics.

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2. Accessibility

All ARAs should be fully accessible and understandable to all users of accounts. Reports should be compiled with a range of users in mind, both from a financial reporting and non-financial reporting background. The following reports use straightforward language that can be understood by a wide range of users and uses visuals to supplement and increase understanding of complex information.

Reports should be made available as an online PDF, a PDF version with larger text, and a HTML version. This ensures that all users can interact with reports. For further information, the Government Digital Service’s Style Guide is a useful resource to ensure that the language used in ARAs is accessible and straight forward.

2.1 Straightforward Language

One aspect of ensuring the ARA is accessible is by using straightforward language throughout the report. By avoiding the use of jargon and complex terminology, departments can ensure that all users find the reports understandable and avoids any misunderstanding. FReM para. 3.7.1 emphasises that ‘clear and simple language makes reports easier for a wide range of people to read.’

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)

An extract of the HTML version of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• Like CPS, DESNZ utilises the features of their HTML report to increase accessibility⁶.

• The HTML report uses short, concise paragraphs with subtitles, allowing the user to navigate to relevant sections of the report more easily. The subtitles make the report easier to read, guiding the user through complex information.

DESNZ also include a glossary of acronyms. This glossary can be referred to throughout the report to increase usability. Taking into consideration the use of complicated scientific, technological, and accounting terms used in the report, the glossary is key to ensure that users can access and understand the report.

Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

Page 10 of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• CMA also use straightforward language to measure the impact of their work, using short paragraphs alongside visuals to communicate key themes⁷.

• CMA have identified the information that will be of the most interest to the user. CMA has identified that ‘Direct financial benefit’ will be of interest, so has emphasised this information using colour, visuals and financial statistics.

• For the narrative accompanying the infographic, CMA avoids the use of jargon and overly complicated language. CMA communicates their points in a succinct way without excluding detail.

Ministry of Justice (MOJ)

Page 35 of Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• MOJ use straightforward language when explaining what they have achieved during the year⁸.

• By dividing their outputs into Priority Outcomes, MOJ ensure the report can be easily navigated and referred to.

• MOJ then divide each outcome into specific areas, such as ‘children in the justice system’. The short paragraph of narrative, followed by easy-to-read bullet points, ensure a uniform and understandable approach that any user of accounts would be able to follow and understand.

2.2 Visuals

The FReM encourages departments to use visuals, where possible, throughout their reports. FReM para. 3.5.3 identifies that ‘graphics are powerful tools for sharing concepts at a glance’. The following departments use visuals effectively to communicate aspects of their performance, creating the ‘at a glance’ understanding which makes reports easier to understand.

Forestry Commission

Page 16 of the Forestry Commission Annual Report and Accounts.

• The Forestry Commission effectively uses visuals alongside trend data to create the ‘concept at a glace’ that is advocated for in the FReM. 

• The use of visuals gives necessary context to the trend data, illustrating how sustainable management is carried out and measured. 

• The use of visuals makes this page stand out against the rest of the report, emphasising the importance of sustainable management to the user. 

• Visuals make the report more accessible to a wide variety of users.

National Crime Agency (NCA)

Page 14 of National Crime Agency's (NCA) Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• The NCA uses visuals, icons, and photos throughout the report to present information in a varied and effective way.⁹

• The use of a ‘highlights’ page shapes how the user approaches the report, giving the user an overview of both the department’s output as a whole and their yearly performance.

• The variety of the highlights included give a full picture of the department’s responsibilities, from the prevention of fraud to the safeguarding of young people.

• The use of visuals to supplement statistics emphasises this in an eye-catching way, increasing the usability of the report to a range of users.

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3. Accountability

All departments should be held accountable for the decisions that they have made during the financial year. ARAs are a crucial way that departments can be held accountable for both the decisions they make and the impacts of those decisions. A key user of ARAs are Members of Parliament, who use ARAs to gain an understanding of the actions of each department during the financial year. MPs scrutinise reports, ask Parliamentary Questions and participate in select committees to ensure that departments act in a responsible way.

Departments should also consider the other users of their accounts, such as the people using the services that they provide. ARAs should prioritise both of these groups to ensure accessibility and accountability.

Two important ways that departments are accountable are through reporting their decisions surrounding sustainability and mitigating risk.

3.1 Sustainability

FReM para. 5.4.8 states that ‘all reporting entities must provide information on environmental matters, including the impact of the entity’s business on the environment’.

Departments can strengthen these disclosures by providing diagrams and statistics, and by reporting trend data.

Specific Sustainability Reporting Guidance can be found here: Sustainability Reporting Guidance 2023-24

3.2 Risk

Departments also need to ensure that users of reports can build an understanding of the risks faced by the department, as well as the decisions that the department makes to mitigate and respond to this risk. Strong examples of risk reporting also include trend data to show how risks, and departmental responses to them, have evolved in recent years. FReM para. 5.3.3g, ‘descriptions of the principal risks should be sufficiently specific that the reader can understand why they are important.’

For specific guidance about risk reporting, including a Best Practice report, please refer to the Orange Book.

Home Office

Pages 68 and 69 of Home Office's Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• The Home Office utilises tables to compare the targets set with departmental outcomes. Home Office’s table compares the findings of the risk assessment to the key controls and mitigating activities used¹⁰.

• The use of a rating system, ranking risks from ‘critical’ to ‘low’, provides a fuller picture of how the Home Office categorises and responds to risks differently. A consistent key allows the user to compare different risks.

• The inclusion of the forecasted trajectory is also useful, showing a forward-looking and future-orientated approach to risk. This allows users of the report to apply context to the information, by including projected trend data.

HM Treasury

Page 16 of HM Treasury (HMT) Annual Report and Accounts for 2023 to 2024.

• HM Treasury use a table to clearly show the type of risk, what it relates to, and the relevant carrying amount. 

• HMT also show how each risk is shown in a Note to the Accounts, cross-referencing through the ARA. This allows the user to easily locate more detailed and quantifiable information pertaining to the risk. 

• The narrative uses straightforward language to explain the risk, alongside how risks are monitored and how risks reoccur later within the report.

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4. Clear Presentation

Presentation is key to ensure that users are able to understand the information within the report. Clear presentation underpins the usability and accessibility of the report, and is crucial to ensure user engagement and understanding with the report. Clear presentation should be, as far as possible, consistent across the PDF, large text, and HTML versions of the report.

4.1 Infographics and Diagrams

FReM para. 3.5.2 emphasises the power of design choices to ‘direct a reader’s attention, to put information in context, or to make things easier to grasp’. Design choices can also be utilised to show the department’s identity, using colours and images which make the department distinct. The following departments show an exemplary use of both infographics and diagrams.

A department’s use of design choices is particularly effective when used to introduce a section of the report, giving the user an ‘at a glance’ view of an aspect of the department’s performance. Infographics and diagrams can be particularly useful when used to compare different statistical information and to illustrate trends. The following departments use design choices in a diverse way to engage and present information to the user.

Serious Fraud Office (SFO)

Pages 33 and 34 of Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• The SFO uses infographics to illustrate information throughout their report¹¹.

• The use of contrasting colours differentiates the elements within the graph.

• Tables, written narrative, and infographics work cohesively together to create a varied and understandable picture of SFO’s accounts.

• Notably, SFO uses infographics to illustrate information about spending, illuminating how infographics can be used to make financial information easier to understand and recognise for users of accounts.

Channel 4

Page 179 of Channel Four Television Corporation Report and Financial Statements 2023.

• Channel 4 use infographics to summarise their Pay Report¹².

• Their use of strong colours aligns with their brand while ensuring that the Pay Report stands out within the report, emphasising the important role it has for accountability.

• The use of multiple infographics encourages comparison and allows the user to build a full picture of Channel 4’s approach to pay.

• By illustrating the statistics, the report makes the statistical information provided more engaging.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

Page 59 of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport's (DCMS) Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• DCMS effectively uses infographics to present and compare quantitative information¹³.

• Consistent colour coding presents information in a way that is easily understandable and prompts comparison.

• The use of multiple infographics alongside each other allows the theme to be examined from multiple angles.

• The graphs allow for quarterly and yearly comparisons, providing trend data to a high level of detail.

Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government

Pages 63 and 64 of the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government's ARA for 2023 to 2024.

• These diagrams explain different types of expenditure, creating a useful resource for interpreting the financial statements that follow it¹⁴. MHCLG recognises that not all users are familiar with financial terms and the system of allocating funds in the public sector. This shows an understanding of, and the ability to cater to specific user needs.

• The use of colour coding allows expenditure to be divided into groups, making it more easily understandable.

• The arrows effectively show how different amounts of money and aspects of the budget interact with each other.

• The use of diagrams alongside the financial statements within the report illustrates that the financial statements should also be presented in an accessible and understandable way, without compromising accuracy.

National Archives

Page 10 of National Archives' Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• The National Archives effectively uses a ‘highlights’ page at the start of the report to introduce the user to the main outputs of the department¹⁵.

• The National Archives uses this page to communicate statistics, supplemented by visuals, which provide the ‘at a glance’ understanding of the department that the FReM encourages.

• The focus on statistics is informative, and the National Archives use both fiscal and non-fiscal measures to emphasise the diversity of the department’s output.

GAD

An extract from the HTML version of the Government Actuary's Department (GAD) Annual Report and Accounts from 2023 to 2024.

• GAD uses diagrams in both PDF and HTML formats. Using diagrams, GAD can make the HTML version more easily understandable¹⁶.

• The diagram illustrates how different teams interact with each other and uses colour to show differentiation.

• The description alongside the diagram is a good example of accessibility, ensuring that every user of accounts can gain a full understanding of the report.

• The combination of the diagram, description, and use of the HTML version of the report ensures that the report is useful, accessible, and understandable to all users.

The NAO’s departmental guides also provide strong examples of the use of infographics and diagrams to convey information.

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For further information, please access the following:

• The Building Public Trust Awards

• NAO Good practice in annual reporting

• Government Financial Reporting Review

• Financial Reporting Council

• The ONS published guidance on data visualisations

• Accessible print publications

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¹ This, and all following examples, are taken from the Financial Reporting Manual for 2023 to 2024, available at: Government Financial Reporting Manual: 2023-24 - GOV.UK.

² The Office of Rail and Road ARA is available at: ORR annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

³ The Charity Commission ARA is available at: Charity Commission annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

⁴ The Department for Education ARA is available at: Department for Education consolidated annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

⁵ The Crown Prosecution Service ARA is available at: The Crown Prosecution Service Annual Report and Accounts 2023–2024

⁶ The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ARA is available at: DESNZ annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

⁷ The Competition and Markets Authority ARA is available at: CMA Annual Report and Accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

⁸ The Ministry of Justice ARA is available at: Ministry of Justice Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 - GOV.UK

⁹ The National Crime Agency ARA is available at: National Crime Agency Annual Report and Accounts: 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

¹⁰ The Home Office ARA is available at: Home Office annual report and accounts: 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

¹¹ The Serious Fraud Office ARA is available at: SFO Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 - GOV.UK

¹² The Channel 4 Annual Report is available at: Channel 4

¹³ The Department for Culture, Media and Sport ARA is available at: DCMS annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

¹⁴ The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government ARA is available at: MHCLG annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

¹⁵ The National Archives ARA is available at: The National Archives annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

¹⁶ The Government Actuary’s Department ARA is available at: Government Actuary’s Department annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK