Financial reporting quality: a subjective evaluation of the extent to which financial reporting is free of manipulation and accurately reflects the financial condition and operating success of a company. It pertains to the information disclosed.

Earnings are considered to be high quality if they exhibit persistence and are unbiased. Sustainable earnings enable better forecasts of future cash flows or earnings. This is referred to as results quality or earnings quality.

Financial reporting quality is different from earnings quality. The two concepts are, however, interrelated because a correct assessment of earnings quality is possible only if we have some basic level of financial reporting quality. Low financial reporting quality makes it hard to assess earnings quality.