Discussion

by


Walmart

 

As an analyst for a large U.S. multinational corporation, you are assigned to examine a possible acquisition candidate, completing an initial search and review.  Your supervisor is a member of the Controller’s team.  The Controller reports directly to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Your work may be presented to a variety of audiences, so professionalism is essential in all deliverables you create. As you are reviewing historical financial statements you cannot conclude if this company is a good investment.

  1. Select a publicly traded company from the Fortune 500 list.
  2. The company must have Accounts Receivable and Inventory. You must select a retail or manufacturing company.
  3. You must research and secure the SEC 10-K Annual Report for the most recent year by visiting and searching the SEC EDGAR system. An alternative path to accessing and downloading the most current 10-K is through the company’s Investor Relations webpage.
  4. Save the 10-K document to your computer for access. Please do not print this file as the report is usually 100 pages or more.
  5. Use the selected company in the discussion postings throughout the semester. The discussion questions are designed to help you build content for your report and presentation.

Report Requirements

Report Content 

  1. Post the name of your desired company in the Week 1 SEC 10-K Project discussion. Your post must answer all parts of the discussion.
  2. Each student must select a different company, so read the company names selected by classmates. The company must be a publicly traded company from the Fortune 500 list.
  3. Visit the Accounting Toolbox in the Course Content > Course Resources of the ACCT 221 LEO classroom. The Accounting Toolbox is a constant resource in our UMGC undergraduate accounting courses.
  4. Links and explanations to assist you with this report may appear in this resource.
  5. Additional guidance will be provided by your professor. 

Academic Integrity

  1. You must comply with the UMGC Policy for Academic Integrity.
  2. Write your report, in your own words, using accounting words from our textbook and explaining how these relate to the financial statements of your company.
  3. The discussion postings throughout the semester should assist you in completing this report. However, do not copy and paste your discussion responses in your report.

SEE BELOW FOR FORMAT AND PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

SEC Report: 100 points

Deadline: Week 7

Name of your Company

Your name:

Course Title and Number

Professor’s Name

 THE ABOVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE IN YOUR TITLE PAGE 

 PAGE 2: This page is the start of the main body of your paper. Your paper must have the section headings in bold and follow the same numbering sequence as below. 

1.Introduction and Company Background Information (minimum ½ page) 5 points.

II.   Discussion on Income Statement (minimum ½ page) 12 points

 III. Discussion on Balance Sheet (minimum ½ page) 12 points   

IV. Discussion on Statement of Cash Flows (minimum ½ page) 12 points 

V. Ratio Analysis (need a minimum of 3 ratios) 16 points. Computational support must be shown. Alternatively, if you found the ratios on a website, you can use it with the condition that you must cite your source here in this section as well as at the end of the paper along with other citations.

   (1) Current Ratio: 1.1

        Comments: You must briefly interpret the results in 1-2 sentences.

   (2) Accounts Receivable Turnover 2.5

        Comments: You must briefly interpret the results in 1-2 sentences

Note: The above ratios were provided for illustrative purposes only. You decide which ratios you wish to use. You must follow the format provided in the sample Costco report to avoid loss of points.

 VI. Horizontal Analysis (need a minimum of 3 items-2 from Balance Sheet and 1 from Income Statement) 16 points

     Account              2016             2015           Difference $               Difference %

  • Cash        $1,050,000     1,000000            $50,000                        5%
  • Accounts Receivable etc.

Comments: You can briefly interpret the results of each item or comment on all 4 items together. If you choose to comment on each item, your comments must immediately follow each item.

Note: The above accounts were provided for illustrative purposes only. You decide which accounts to analyze. You must follow the format provided in the sample Costco report to avoid loss of points.

VII. Vertical Analysis (need a minimum of 3 items-2 from Balance Sheet and 1 from Income Statement) 16 points

Note: The base accounts Sales or Total Assets or Total Liabilities & Stockholders’ Equity does not count as one of the two items although you need to include the base account used.

Eg. Income Statement

Base: Revenues $5,000,000

CGS $1,000,000/$5,000,000 =20%

Net Income: $2,000,000/$5,000,000=40%

Balance Sheet

Total Assets Base: 10,000,000.

1. Cash 1,000,000/10,000,000 = 10%.

2. Inventory: 2,000,000/10,000,000=20%.

Comments: You can briefly interpret the results of each item or comment on all 4 items together. If you choose to comment on each item, your comments must immediately follow each item.

Note: You must follow the format provided in the sample Costco report to avoid loss of points.

VIII. Conclusion (minimum 1/4 page) 5 points

  IX. References: Minimum of three. 6 points     

              APA Format

  Consult the library website for additional assistance. This report must be done using 12 font size and 1.5 spacing.

PS: I have attached a sample report in the Discussion Board and will also email it to all with these instructions for you to get an idea of what the final product should look like. However, please note that the sample report is provided for general guidance. The number of ratios etc. analyzed may be different than what is required in this semester. So, please consult the above instructions when preparing your report.