• Select a public company that interests you.

Essay Questions

1. Briefly describe the company(corporation), product, and the industry within which it operates. When is the fiscal year end for this company? What are the company's total assets, liabilities, and equity, Income (loss) for the most recent year?
2. Identify all three inventory methods including their advantages and disadvantages. Identify the inventory method used by your selected corporation. How does this corporation value its inventories? Why do you think the corporation selected this inventory method? Explain your answer.
3. Use the cost of goods sold formula to compute net purchases, which are not reported in the corporation's financial statements. Include your calculations.
4. Analyze your selected corporation's strengths and weaknesses. Elaborate on why the strengths you identified are strengths. If you included any weaknesses, what would you suggest to your selected corporation to improve the weaknesses? Be specific. Support your assertion with research and cite your sources.
5. Determine your selected corporation's inventory turnover and days' sales in inventory for the year ended. (Round each ratio to one decimal place.)
6. Find your selected corporation's biggest competitor and access their annual report for the most recent year available. How do u selected corporation's inventory turnover and days' sales in inventory compare with their competitor's most recent annual report?
7. Conclude the essay by answering the following questions: Do you consider this an optimal analysis for determining whether to invest in your selected corporation? Why or why not? The conclusion should be built on the information you provided in the body of the essay. Do not introduce new ideas in the conclusion.

part 2:

Essay Questions

1. Based on the feedback from your instructor, make any corrections to Part 1, which you submitted in Lesson 7, and continue building(writing) your report.
2. Briefly describe internal control and how can it be used to protect assets. How can petty cash funds be used for internal control purposes? Why are bank accounts used? What is bank reconciliation, and why should a business use it? Why is it necessary to record journal entries after the bank reconciliation has been prepared?
3. Calculate and compare your selected corporation's cash to its biggest competitor for the two years preceding the current year. What does the cash ratio help to determine? Explain your reasoning and support your answer. Show your calculations.
4. On which financial statement would you find Accounts Receivable (A/R)? Explain common types of receivables. What was the amount of A/R for your selected corporation for the two years preceding the current year? What does this tell you? Give your reasoning and support your assertions with your research.
5. Review and analyze the notes for the financial statements for your selected corporation. In what note number did you find the amount for Allowance for Doubtful Accounts? What was the amount for Allowance for Doubtful Accounts for year end in both of the two years preceding the current year? What does this tell you? Give your reasoning and support your assertions with your research.
6. Explain unearned revenues and how unearned revenues arise.
7. Explain what a warranty is and when businesses record warranty expense, and why.
8. Explain contingent liabilities. How should a company handle contingent liabilities that are reasonable, possible, or probable but cannot be estimated?
9. Conclude the essay with answers to these questions: From the additional the information you have gathered in your final report, do you consider your report an optimal analysis for determining whether to invest in your selected corporation? Why or why not? The conclusion should be built on the information you provided in the body of the essay. Do not introduce new ideas in the conclusion.
10. Zip your Word document and annual report PDF or htm file into a single folder and submit using the link below. (See the Syllabus for help with zipping files.)