You are attending a managerial meeting, within your publicly held company, to hear a proposal for a possible corporate merger with a competitor. After a brief discussion, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) conducts a slide presentation showing the competitor's financial statements. Some of your colleagues have little or no financial background. You have decided to further their understanding by conducting a financial comparison of two publicly traded companies.

The companies chosen are Sirrius Satellite and XM Satellite

Provide an introductory overview of the financial statements addressing the following:

a. Provide a brief overview of each company and highlight key information that is available on each statement, including the following items for each company chosen:

1) What is the company's product or service?

2) When was the company established?

3) What accounting firm audited its financial statements?

b. Identify the four types of financial statements utilized by your selected publicly traded companies.

c. Define basic accounting concepts, terminology, and transactions discussed in the text of the company's financial statements and list the two accounts that would have been affected by the transaction. Also, identify the financial statement(s) that would have been affected by the chosen transaction.