You are going to choose a publicly traded company (for example Microsoft). Publicly traded companies who
have their shares listed on stock exchanges are required to file regular financial statements and disclosures
with regulators, such as the securities and exchange commission (SEC) in the United States. Among the
most widely read of these are a company's annual report, which tells investors and analysts how the company
has performed over the previous fiscal year (FY), how its businesses look going forward and summarizing
corporate financials for use in fundamental or ratio analysis through scrutinizing the balance sheet, income
statement, and statement of cash flows.
Here are topics to summarize in each paragraph:
- Introduce to the FASB’s Conceptual Framework and FASB’s GAAP Codification, if any in their reports
including their accounting principles or concepts. - Explain their annual Income Statement. Give a full summary of their earnings and operating expenses. Do
they have Other Revenue and Gains or Other Expenses or Interest? Do they have discounting Operation or
Extraordinary Items? Explain. You will find their information at the end of their Income Statement or Footnotes.
What is their EPS? - Explain their annual Balance Sheet? Give a full summary of Assets, Liabilities, and Stockholder’s Equity.
How many shares outstanding are stated? Do they have additional information at the bottom of the Balance
Sheet? - Explain their Cash Flow Statement. Give a full summary of their cash flows. Are they using the indirect or
the direct method to calculate their results? - Conclusion
- 2020: Was the company affected the Covid-19? Explain
Sample Solution