1. Calculate the 12 ratios for James Confectioners for this year.
2. How do the ratios you calculated for this year compare to those Ivey calculated for the company last year? What factors most likely account for those changes?
3. How do the ratios you calculated for this year compare to those of the typical company in the industry? Do you spot any areas that could cause the company problems in the future? Explain.
4. Develop a set of recommendations for improving the financial performance of James Confectioners using the analyses you conducted in questions 1–3.
5. What pricing recommendations can you make to Telford and Ivey James?

Telford James and his wife Ivey are the second-generation owners of James Confectioners, a family-owned manufacturer of premium chocolates that was started by Telford’s father, Frank, in 1964 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. In its nearly 50 years, James Confectioners has grown from its roots in a converted hardware store into a large, modern factory with sophisticated production and quality control equipment. In the early days, all of Frank’s customers were local shops and stores, but the company now supplies customers across the United States and a few in Canada. Telford and Ivey have built on the company’s reputation as an honest, reliable supplier of chocolates. The prices they charge for their chocolates are above the industry average but are not anywhere near the highest prices in the industry even though the company is known for producing quality products.