Week 1: Introduction and Overview, Forms of Business Organization, Financial Statement, and Ratio Analysis - Discussion

Much of the analysis done by financial managers is based on numbers that are different from what would seem to be the corresponding numbers presented in the financial statements. This difference is not due to any kind of cooking the books or other attempts to mislead anyone. One example is the use of market value rather than historical cost in the valuation of assets. For your first post, define financial management. What are some other examples of the differences between financial management and financial accounting? Give examples.

For your next post, explain the DuPont identity. How is it used in finance? Locate the financial statements for two firms in the same industry. Calculate all four terms of the DuPont identity, and present the results but do not analyze them.

For an additional post, analyze the results that another student has posted. If you were the appropriate financial manager of one of the firms that you analyzed, what would be your observations and recommendations?