How we work

The Footnotes is written and edited by a small editorial desk. This page sets out how we read reports, score rankings, check sources, use AI, stay independent, and correct and update what we publish. It applies to every article on the site.

How we read annual reports

• We read the published document. Every review starts from the PDF the company filed with the stock exchanges (BSE or NSE) or published on its own investor-relations page. We don't work from press releases, summaries or the company's own description of its report.
• We read it in full. Reviews cover the whole report, including the statutory sections, the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) and the financial statements, not just the opening chapters.
• We give page references. When a review praises or criticises something, it says where in the report to find it, so you can check our reading against the document.
• We link to the report. Each review links to the official copy of the report so you can read it yourself.

How we score rankings

Our rankings, such as the best annual reports in India and our comparison of annual report agencies, use one scorecard. Each report is scored from 1 to 5 on seven criteria, for a maximum of 35:

1. Strategy and narrative: does the report say clearly where the company is going and why, in its own voice?
2. Integrated thinking and the capitals: are strategy, risk, the capitals and value creation connected, with numbers?
3. BRSR and ESG integration: is sustainability data part of the story, assured, with targets set against actual results?
4. Governance disclosure: are board responsibility, committees, remuneration and related-party matters stated plainly?
5. Financial storytelling: do the numbers come with an honest explanation, including the weak years?
6. Design and readability: can a shareholder find and follow what matters?
7. Digital version: does the PDF have bookmarks and links, do pages read on a phone, and is there an online edition?

Some rules keep the scores comparable:

• The same card for every report. Every report in a study is scored on the same seven criteria, in the same way.
• One pass per study. When a study grows, we re-score the earlier reports alongside the new ones, so all the scores in it are comparable. Scores from different studies are not meant to be compared with each other, and we say so in each study.
• Agencies are identified from the report itself. In the agency comparison, a report counts towards an agency only if the report prints that agency's credit, which we check visually. A credit doesn't tell us what the agency was hired to do, so we score the published report, not the agency's process.
• Like-for-like comparison. Where agencies have different numbers of reports, we rank them on the same number of reports each and show every score, including the ones outside that cut.
• Limits stated up front. Our samples are large listed companies we chose, not every listed company. Each ranking says what it covers and what it leaves out.

Scores are our editorial opinion of the published documents. They aren't an award, and no company or agency is consulted on its score before publication.

How we source and check facts

• Primary sources first. For rules and requirements, we go to the source: SEBI regulations and circulars, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), BSE and NSE filings, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA). For company facts, we use the company's own filings.
• Secondary sources are named. When we rely on a news report or commentary, we name the publication in the article and list it in the article's sources.
• Every article lists its sources. The sources section at the end of each article links to the documents we used.
• Uncertainty is flagged. If sources disagree, or a point can't be confirmed, we say so in the article rather than pick one silently.

How we use AI

We use AI tools in our work, and we think readers should know how.

• What AI does. AI tools help us monitor regulators and exchanges for new circulars and filings, gather and summarise source documents, and produce first drafts and structure for articles.
• What people do. A member of the editorial desk checks every figure, date, quote and page reference against the source document, edits the draft, and approves it before it is published. Scores in our rankings are the desk's judgement, recorded with the page references behind them.
• What we don't do. We don't publish AI output without human review, and we don't let AI tools decide scores or rankings.

Independence

• No paid placements. Companies and agencies don't pay to be covered, reviewed, ranked or listed, and we don't accept payment to change or remove coverage.
• No sponsored content. We don't run advertorials or articles written by or for the companies and agencies we cover.
• No previews. Companies and agencies don't see reviews or scores before they are published.
• No advice. Our content is for information only. It isn't legal, tax, accounting or investment advice.

Corrections

If you think we have got something wrong, message us on LinkedIn. Tell us the article, what you think is wrong, and the source that shows it, ideally with a page number.

• We check every error report against the source.
• If we made an error, we correct the article and add a dated note saying what changed. The article's “Updated” date changes too.
• If a correction changes a score, we update the ranking that uses it and say so in the note.
• We don't quietly delete mistakes.

Updates

• When rules change. When SEBI, MCA, ICAI or another regulator changes a rule an article covers, we revise the article.
• Regular reviews. We review articles on deadlines, thresholds and rankings regularly, and a ranking is redone each reporting year from the new reports.
• Dated changes. When an article changes in substance, it shows an “Updated” date next to the publication date. New editions of a study say what changed from the last one.

Last reviewed 30 October 2026. See also About The Footnotes.