Reporting blooper

‘Fudge this …’. Not words you’d want to have printed in public annual report. But there they are, for all to see, in NZ Farming Systems Uruguay (NZFSU) annual financial statement released last week.

A classic, and embarrassing, example of how an internal process failure can seriously dent a reputation. The fact that it ended up in national news media must have added insult to injury and quite possibly, earned the poor individual who failed to pick it up a stern warning, or worse.

Computers make it easy to add comments, track changes and compare notes in endless versions of draft documents. Of course, somebody, somewhere, needs to check and sign-off a final copy before it’s printed. Preferably someone who has a fresh pair of eyes who hasn’t seen it before.

A company’s directors are technically responsible, but it’s a job almost always delegated to someone more junior.

Not only did the error attract widespread media coverage, it also drew attention to the company’s financial performance which the directors may have preferred weren’t splashed all over the papers.

Ah well, no doubt their signing-off process has been tightened up so it won’t happen again. It’s certainly a lesson for other organisations reporting their performance to shareholders and others.

Benjamin Franklin apparently said “Distrust and caution are the parents of security.” Wise man.