Please read the attached document below for the assignment.

Course Project for ACCT 201 Exploring Financial Statements* Spring 2017 The objectives of this project are: -To explore the 10-K of a company and to become familiar with its industry, which will enable you to learn about the financial health of your company. -To develop a beginning understanding of and begin to use financial databases and software available on the Internet and the Library for financial reporting, analysis and interpretation. The due date is April 27, 2017, the last day of class. This project may earn the authors up to 10 points toward their final grade. Each group must have either two or three members. Students may not work alone, and groups may not have four or more members. A hard copy must be submitted in class on the due date. Each team member should keep a copy of the submitted assignment. Note, do not include this instruction page with your submission. The title page that follows should be the first page of your submission. ASSIGNMENT FORMAT: It is expected that you will use a word processing program to complete this assignment and to use writing reference books as appropriate (dictionary, thesaurus, writing guides). Please insert your names, in the space provided in the case assignment booklet. Then, insert your answers immediately after each question and print out the completed case assignment booklet. Please remember that the presentation of your work (appearance, grammar, syntax, typographical errors, etc.) reflects your ability to communicate as a business professional and will be taken into consideration when your grade is determined. Efficient writing is important. Bullet points and other organizational formats are not only acceptable, they are encouraged. GROUP WORK: By signing the case submission at the end (see step 12), each member is affirming that s/he was engaged in a meaningful way with each question, and concurs with the submission in its entirety. ACADEMIC HONESTY: Plagiarism is not just copying and pasting (though copying and pasting IS plagiarism). You need to summarize your article and industry information in your own words; try to connect ideas from different parts of the sources you are reading. By citing your sources you let your reader know where you got that information so that they can check out the original source themselves. By doing your own original work on this assignment, and not copying others', you will learn more and do better in your classes. * Adapted from an assignment co-authored with Karen Osterheld 1 ACCT 201 Course Project Students' Names: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Company Name: Obtain the most recent and complete 10-K for your company from the company website. This can be found in the area on their website titled investor relations, SEC filings, or some similar description. Find the most recent 10-K. The 10-K includes the Annual Report. If you do not find the complete 10-K on the company website, you should check the SEC's EDGAR database at sec.gov. Be careful that you are not getting summary data or generalized data compiled by a third party website. Unless otherwise specified, all answers must come from the 10-K. Include a copy of your company's income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows with your submission. 1. What is the exact name of your company? What is the ticker symbol for your company, on what stock exchange(s) does it trade, and when is the company's fiscal year end? How many shares does your company have outstanding at the end of the company's most recent fiscal year end as shown on the Balance Sheet (and/or Statement of Retained earnings and/or Notes to the Financial Statements if not noted on the Balance Sheet)? What is the company's market capitalization at the end of the fiscal year? (Note: Compute the company's market capitalization by finding the shares outstanding at year end in the 10-K and the price per share at year end directly from the stock exchange website, or a reputable source such as Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch. You should note your source for the price). 2. Using the 10-K, show that the fundamental accounting equation, Assets = Liabilities + Stockholders' Equity, is true for your company at the end of the most recent year-end. Total Assets Total Liabilities Total Stockholders' Equity __________ __________ __________ 3. Look at the Statement of Cash Flows from the 10-K. What is the cash flow generated from (or used by) Operating Activities? __________________ What does this indicate about the financial health of the company? 4. Find and read the \"Report of Management Responsibilities\" or \"Certification of Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer\" (or similarly titled report) found in the 2 company's 10-K. These reports are required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Who signed it? In your own words (do not copy what is written in the certification letter) summarize the responsibilities management assumed regarding financial statements and internal controls based on this statement. Attach a copy of this page from the 10-k to your submission. 5. Find and read the \"Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm\" (or similarly titled report) in the 10-K. Who are the auditors of your company and what type of opinion did they issue? (unqualified, unqualified with modified wording, qualified, adverse or disclaimer). Is the opinion positive or negative? What do you think is the most important takeaway from the opinion given for investors. Attach a copy of this page from the 10-k to your submission. 6. 10-Ks generally include a summary of financial data for the last 5- or 10-year period. Use Excel (or a similar spreadsheet program) to prepare three separate graphs of the following data that can be found directly in the financial summary or can be calculated from data that are provided in the summary. Use a line graph to illustrate the trends in these items. In a separate area, or on the graphs, clearly indicate the numerical values used in each graph. If the data for all the years needed are not in the current 10-K, you may have to access prior year 10-Ks. Attach a copy of relevant pages used from all 10k's to your submission. a) Net Income for the past 5 years b) Sales Revenue for the past 5 years c) Stock Price per share for the last 3-5 years (weekly or monthly prices are sufficient) 7. Find an article relating to your company from the financial press: The article must: have been published within the last 6 months. have a listed author or byline. be over 300 words. This article should provide meaningful information to a potential investor in your company, and not simply, for example, a list of stock performances on a single day, or a listing of the company's typically analyzed financial data. The best route to finding reliable articles is through the library's electronic databases. You can use the Sawyer library website to find reliable sources such as the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, The New York Times etc ... Do NOT use business wires, press releases, blogs, announcements, or short pieces. This is an important step to identify the major issues facing your company now and in the future. List the article as a citation in MLA format. Write a paragraph on why you chose this article and how it would help a potential investor make a decision. What unique insight does it provide? Attach a copy of the article. 8. Information about your company relative to its competitors can be found in the Value Line database linked to the library website: Sawyer Library > Research > Find Articles > 3 Business > Company Information > Value Line. What industry is your company in? What products does it sell that leads you to believe that it belongs in this industry? Generate a list of at least four peers that compete most directly with your firm and list them. What grade does Value Line give your company? What grade does Value Line give to the competitors that you listed? Attach a copy of the Value Line report (or a couple of pages that you found particularly helpful if a long report.) 9. Use the library's resources on industry to answer the following questions; look in the databases Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage (click on the Industries tab) or Mergent WebReports (click on the Industry Reports tab). Look up your industry by name or NAICS/SIC code. Attach a copy of the report you selected to your submission. (or a couple of pages that you found particularly helpful if a long report.) Using bullet points: Identify and explain two trends that are currently developing in your company's industry. List several characteristics of this industry's customer base. What types of regulations affect this industry? Identify a growing market in this industry. 10. Based on all the information you gathered throughout this project and what you have learned in ACCT 201, would you buy this company's stock today? Why or why not? Your response should be one to two pages, double-spaced. Your comments should at a minimum reference: a) the graphs prepared in question 6, b) information obtained from the article listed in question 7, c) information on the industry obtained in questions 8 & 9. 11. Each group member should sign the bottom of the submission affirming that s/he was engaged in a meaningful way with each and every question, and concurs with the submission in its entirety. 4