The midterm project will evaluate your mastery of the concepts presented in the first four modules of the course. Your emphasis should be on applying and analyzing content rather than on the actual performance of calculations.

Topics covered include:

• Basic financial statements
• Conceptual framework of financial reporting
• Internal controls and fraud
• Budgeting and responsibility accounting

PROJECT GUIDELINES

Walmart Inc. is an American company that operates more than 11,500 retail stores worldwide; approximately 40 percent of these locations are in the United States. Walmart has approximately 2.3 million full-time employees. 

Use the Internet and /or the University library to find the most recent financial statements and annual report for Walmart. Write an academic paper of between 2000 and 2750 words (8 to 10 pages) that presents a discussion and analysis of the following topics:

1. Describe the overall financial health of Walmart. Do the reports show an increase in net income, total revenues, total assets, and earnings per share? 
2. State the total retained earnings and total stockholders equity.
3. How many shares of common stock have been issued and how many are outstanding? 
4. Identify different assets/liabilities that are measured by (a) historical costs, (b) market value, (c) net realizable value, and (d) present value.
5. Discuss three ways in which you see application of the financial reporting conceptual framework at Walmart.
6. Through research and (where appropriate) visits to a local Walmart location, identify five internal controls activities that have been implemented to prevent misappropriation of assets or fraudulent financial reporting. Do you think these internal control activities are effective? Do they address issues surrounding fraud risk? Please provide an explanation and present suggestions to improve internal controls effectiveness in the Walmart store.
7. Describe how Walmart could use responsibility accounting performance reports to effectively manage its more than 11,000 stores and 2 million employees. What are the basic components of these performance reports?

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS

 Follow accepted research approaches and citation format (APA style).

 Convey your understanding of the readings and concepts and their application to the topic.

 Write in an organized and coherent way.

 Check for and correct spelling, sentence structure, and grammatical errors.

 Demonstrate graduate-level analytical skills.

Course objectives covered in this project include CO1, CO2, CO3, CO4, CO5