This document outlines requirements for a two-part class project. Part one involves analyzing the financial statements of two companies in the same industry, comparing key metrics over time, and identifying important non-financial factors for investors. Students must analyze income statements, balance sheets, cash flows, and compare one company to another. Part two requires researching and presenting on the educational requirements, salaries, and job prospects for one of six accounting careers. Students will complete the projects in groups and present their findings to the class.

1. FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS and CAREER RESEA
RCH PROJECT
Due DATE – see Syllabus/Calendar
ACCT 101 – 100 points
I. Financial Statement Analysis –
Objective: Put the Numbers in Perspective
REQUIRED: WRITTEN PROJECT
1. Obtain the most recent annual report for two companies in th
e same industry. The reports should
contain at least three years of income statement data and two ye
ars of balance sheet data. One
company would be the base company where you will use to com
plete part 2 ‐5. The second company is
used for comparative purpose in part 6. Provide a summary of th
e base company’s industry and
operation.
2. Base company ‐ Analyze items on the income statement that
would be important and relevant to an
investor, and discuss whether your company’s performance relat
ed to these items appeared to be
improving, deteriorating, or remaining stable. Justify your answ
er using financial ratios,
vertical/horizontal analysis, graphs, etc.

2. 3. Base company ‐ Analyze items on the balance sheet that woul
d be important and relevant to an
investor, and discuss whether your company’s performance relat
ed to these items appeared to be
improving, deteriorating, or remaining stable. Justify your answ
er using financial ratios,
vertical/horizontal analysis, graphs, etc.
4. Base company ‐ Analyze the company’s investing and financi
ng activities for the most recent year as
identified in the statement of cash flows, specifically identifyin
g the two largest investing activities and
the two largest financing activities. Discuss whether you agree
or disagree with the investing and
financing strategies that your company appears to be employing
and whether the company’s cashflow is
well‐managed.
5. Identify 2 (two) items not included in (or derived from) the fi
nancial statements that you think would
be important to someone considering whether to invest in your c
ompany. Discuss your reasons for
believing that these two items about the company would be imp
ortant in making an investment
decision. (Hint: you might want to consider items discussed in o
ther business classes.)
6. Compare your base company’s financial statements with thos
e of the second company in the same
industry. If you were making a decision to invest in one of the t
wo companies, which company would
you choose? Why? (Note: your answer in this section must inclu
de some financial issues, but your
answer need not be limited to a discussion of financial issues.)

3. Note:
1. You must submit the entire annual report for each company b
eing discussed.
2. Your analysis must include page references to relevant portio
ns of the annual reports, and the
relevant portions of the annual reports must be highlighted. You
r report must also contain appropriate
quotation marks for quoted material and appropriate citations fo
r material taken from sources outside
the financial statements.
3. Your analysis is limited to 5 (five) pages, and must be typed,
double‐spaced, and have at least a 10‐
point font and no bigger than 12‐point font.
4. The assignment is due on the date specified in the syllabus –
The beginning of class.
5. Some examples of ratio/analysis to perform.
a. Receivables turnover ratio.
b. Average collection period.
c. Inventory turnover ratio.
d. Average days in inventory.
e. Current ratio.

4. f. Acid‐test ratio.
g. Debt to equity ratio.
h. Times interest earned ratio.
i. Gross profit ratio (on the MU watches).
j. Return on assets.
k. Profit margin.
l. Asset turnover.
m. Return on equity.
Also, horizontal and vertical analyses.
REQUIRED: TEAM PRESENTATION
Prepare a 25 minute (maximum) presentation for the class summ
arizing the results of your team’s
project. Each member of the team MUST participate in the prese
ntation, and after the presentation you
will be expected to entertain questions for 5 minutes from both t
he class and the professor.
The presentation must be a power point presentation and must in
clude at least 2 graphs (using excel).
FINDING ANNUAL REPORTS

5. You are required to turn in a copy of both companies’ annual re
ports with your group project. The best
way to obtain annual reports is to request them directly from the
company. You may find a company’s
contact information on its website (usually in an SEC Filings or
Investor
Relations/Information tab). You should request two copies, and
exchange the second with the group
using your company for comparison. Annual reports are also ava
ilable on the SEC website
http://sec.gov/
Company Website Example: finding an annual report for Kroger
:
Kroger.com into the web browser address bar
the link SEC Filings towards the bottom of the screen
on one of the links to open a PDF document or
the Contact US link for contact information
Website Example: finding a 10‐K report for Kroger:
Click the link Search for Company Filings under Filings & For
ms (EDGAR)
Click the link for Full Text Search on the left‐hand side of the s
creen
Click the link for Advanced Search on the right‐hand side of the
screen
to the In Form Type pull‐down menu and click on 10‐K
the company name in the appropriate box
on Search
Project point breakdown:

6. 1. Written report (50 points)
2. Presentation (30 points)
II. Accounting Career (20 points)
Prepare a 5 to 7 minute power point presentation that describes t
he career. The presentation MUST
include the following for full credit:
degrees (type and length)
Licensure requirement (cost of exam prep, exam coverage, year
s of experience, etc.)
salary, average salary (US v California)
local and state job market and projections.
Assigned to Groups:
1. Certified Public Accountants/CPA
2. Attorneys (with a Business/tax emphasis)
3. Financial Planners/Advisors
4. Forensic Accountants

7. 5. Controller
6. Chief financial officer (CFO) of a fortune 500 company
The project will be graded on the quality of the research, organi
zation, care and work shown through
the presentation, and presentation skills. This includes staying
within the 5 to 7 minute timeline, having
the presentation ready by the due date and time.