Discussion: Financial Statement Analysis

As a financial manager, you will find the skill of being able to analyze financial statements immensely helpful. You will also find that other players in the financial market, such as investors and lenders, also use financial statements analysis to understand the strengths and weaknesses of companies in many areas including profitability, efficiency, and liquidity. In addition, financial statements analysis also allows you to compare companies of different sizes within similar industries.

For this Discussion, review the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission article, "Beginners' Guide to Financial Statements," in this week's Resources. This resource explains the relationship between the various sections of financial statements within an Annual Report and how they are used by organizations both internally and externally. Next, locate financial statements representing different reporting periods from a single business or organization on the Internet or via the Walden Library. You must not use examples from your assigned readings. You may choose to use the company you are focusing on for your Final Paper.

Post by Day 3, a 150- to 200-word financial statement from the company you have selected, addressing either a positive or a negative financial change for the organization. Explain how the specific financial statement you chose can help to identify trends for the organization that would be useful for its shareholders.

Be sure to support your work with specific citations from the Learning Resources and any additional sources.

Read a selection of your colleagues' postings.

Respond to two or more of your colleagues' postings in one or more of the following ways:

• Ask a probing question.
• Share an insight from having read your colleague's posting.
• Offer and support an opinion.
• Make a suggestion.
• Expand on your colleague's posting.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you learned and the insights you gained from the comments your colleagues made.

Note: Refer to the Discussion Template in this week's Learning Resources for your main post and response.

Required Resources

Readings

• Ross, S. A., Westerfield, R. W., & Jordan, B. D. (2012). Essentials of corporate finance (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

o Chapter 3, "Working with Financial Statements" (pp. 53-96)

• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (n.d.) Beginners' guide to financial statements. Retrievedhttp://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/begfinstmtguide.htm