Choose a company in which you are interested, and obtain its most recent annual report online at the company's website. Click on Investor Relations; then, select Annual Report or SEC Form 10-K. (Hint: When performing a search, use "company name investor relations" to avoid the customer-oriented home page.)
1. Identify the company by writing a summary that includes the following elements:
• Name of the chief executive officer
• Location of the home office
• Ending date of latest fiscal year
• Description of the company's principal products or services
• Main geographic area of activity
• Name of the company's independent accountants (auditors). In your own words, explain what the accountants said about the company's financial statements.
2. Identify the company's four financial statements. What differences, if any, do you see in the titles given to the statements as compared to those used in the chapter?
Trace the interrelationships of the statements.
3. Show that the accounting equation (Assets = Liabilities 1 Stockholders' Equity) is in balance for the most recent year.