The best case study of all is probably the real-world situation. This allows you to:

• choose situations that are topical;

• choose countries about which you are both knowledgeable and interested;

• see just how difficult interpretation of financial statements in an international context can be.

Therefore:

1. obtain the published financial statements, in languages you read well, of two companies or groups of companies, from different countries, for the same year or, if possible, a series of years;

2. analyze the data in detail and produce a report on the companies’ relative strengths and weaknesses. Your analysis will involve, among other things:

(a) reading the information in full, several times,

(b) carefully considering any language issues,

(c) noting inconsistent accounting policies and different accounting treatments, and attempting to adjust for them to give greater comparability,

(d) preparing ratios, as consistently as possible,

(e) producing a report, which includes proper recognition of the weaknesses in the available information.

This exercise can of course be repeated, using different pairs of companies. Try using one under IAS GAAP and one under national GAAP.