Project Assignment

OVERVIEW:

The final project assignment will consist of using the course material to analyze and assess the financial statements of a SEC registered company listed in the Fortune 500. The objective is to understand the practical implications of the theoretical accounting concepts you learned in the course by applying it to a real-life entity.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Complete the Final Project Ð Request a Corporation Discussion Forum. You will conduct internet-based research to select a publicly traded company included in the Fortune 500 listing. The details for this assignment are included in the Week 1 discussion forum.

2. Complete the Final Project Assignment.

Prepare and submit a PowerPoint Presentation addressing the following questions about the company you selected. Refer to the company's most recent SEC 10K financial statements and the accompanying notes to answer the questions.

a. Title Page - include the following:

i. Assignment Name, Your Name, Company Name and Fiscal Period of the Company's Financial Statements (e.g, December 31, 2016)

b. Current Liabilities and Contingencies (Chapter 13):

i. What types of commitments and contingencies has the company reported in its financial statements?

c. Long-Term Liabilities (Chapter 14):

i. Prepare an assessment of the company's liquidity, solvency and financial flexibility using ratio analysis. Comment on the company's liquidity, solvency and financial flexibility.

d. Stockholders' Equity (Chapter 15):

i. What is the par or stated value of common stock and preferred stock if applicable?
ii. How many shares of common stock were outstanding at the end of the fiscal year?
iii. What was the dollar amount of the cash dividends issued at the end of the fiscal year?
iv. What is the return on common stockholders' equity for the current and prior fiscal period?
v. Search the Internet to identify and list the market price range (high/low) of the common stock?

e. Securities and EPS (Chapter 16):

i. What were the company's diluted earnings per share in the current and prior fiscal year?
ii. What stock-based compensation plans does the company have?

f. Investments (Chapter 17):

i. What investments does the company report?

ii. How are these investments accounted for in its financial statements? How are the investments valued? How does the company determine fair value?

g. Revenue Recognition (Chapter 18):

i. What were the net sales? What was the percentage of increase or decrease in net sales from prior year to current year?

ii. In its notes to the financial statements, what criteria does the company use to recognize revenue?

h. Accounting for Income Taxes (Chapter 19):

i. What amounts relative to income taxes does the company report in its: Income statement, balance sheet and statement of cash flows?

ii. The company's income taxes were computed at what effective tax rates? (See the notes to the financial statements.)

iii. How much of the company's total income taxes was current tax expense, and how much was deferred tax expense?

i. Accounting for Pensions and Postretirement (Chapter 20):

i. What kinds of pension plans does the company provide its employees?
ii. What was the company's pension expense?

j. Accounting for Lease (Chapter 21):

i. What types of leases are used by the company?
ii. What amount of capital leases was reported by the company in total (long-term portion) and for less than one year (current portion)?

k. Accounting Changes and Error Analysis (Chapter 22):

i. Were there changes in accounting principles reported by the company during the years covered by its income statements? If so, describe the nature of the change and the year of change.

ii. What types of estimates did the company discuss in the footnotes?

l. Statement of Cash Flows (Chapter 23):

i. Which method of computing net cash provided by operating activities does the company use?
ii. What were the amounts of net cash provided by operating activities for the years reported?
iii. Which two items were most responsible for the increase or decrease in net cash provided by operating activities?
iv. What was the most significant item in the cash flows used for investing activities section?
v. What was the most significant item in the cash flows used for financing activities section?

m. Full Disclosure in Financial Reporting (Chapter 24):

i. What specific items does the company discuss in its footnote Summary of Significant Accounting Policies? (List the headings only.)
ii. If applicable, what segments did the company report? Which segment is the largest?

n. Appendix (Optional) - Graphs, charts, other relevant financial reports.

o. Bibliography listing all resources used.