Accounting for Business Decisions
This assignment is in two parts, the first one that will require you to undertake some research, the
Second part will involve a preparation of worksheet.
The assignment aims to develop understanding of financial statements and their use in decision-making. The task is to study and compare 2 publicly held company specifically in the same
Industry, (use ASX s website to select a company) and be able to understand the structure of
Financial statements. This project itself includes several assignments, each of which comprises a
Part of the students task. However it is well encouraged to include any additional information
That students may think will be useful in conducting financial statements analysis of the
Company.
General Rules and Requirements:
The report should be prepared by a small group (with a maximum of three to four members) with
the contribution of each member specified on the report s title page. Reports must be confined to
3,000 words (+/- 5%). A title page, table of contents page (based on your report headings),
Introduction, conclusion and list of the references actually cited should accompany your report.
Font type should be Arial (size 11), paragraph spacing should be equal to 1.5.
Note: any additional material from external sources that you paste into your report is NOT
Included in the word limit. Also, ensure it is appropriately referenced.
PART A: (50 MARKS)
Section A (total marks are 50. Whatever student scores 15% will be the weightage of this
Section)
Part A1 (10 points)
Before the actual financial statements are evaluated, your group must inform interested parties
About the company s business structure, operations, services and all other business activities that
Are conducted, etc.
Part A2 (10 points)
Locate the most recent annual report of your public listed chosen companies of the same year.
Your group will need to review the major sections of this report in order to familiarize
Yourselves with the content of each of the financial statements and appropriate footnotes.
Review the most recent year-end balance sheets of the companies and indicate the
following:
The amount of total current assets
The amount of total non-current assets
The amount of total current liabilities 2
The amount of total non-current liabilities
The amount of total stockholder s equity
Compare the above figures with the figure of second company. Compare percentage
increase or decrease.
(Use Excel Sheet)
Part A3 (10 points)
Review the most recent year s income statement and indicate the following:
total (operating) revenues;
cost of goods sold (if listed);
total expenses (before income taxes)
any non-operating (or extraordinary) gains and losses; and
Earnings per common share.
Compare the above figures with the figure of second company. Compare percentage
increase or decrease.
Part A4 (10 points)
Review the statement of cash flows for the most recent year and indicate the
following:
net cash inflow (outflow) from operating activities;
net cash inflow (outflow) from financing activities;
net cash inflow (outflow) from investing activities; and
net increase (decrease) in cash during the year.
Compare the above figures with the figure of second company. Compare percentage
increase or decrease.
Part A5 (10 points)
Review the stockholders’ equity section in your chosen company’s most recent year-end
balance sheet and compare that with the figure of second company. Compare percentage
increase or decrease. Compare percentage increase or decrease.
List the stockholders’ equity account balances and number of outstanding
shares from these two balance sheets and compute the increase or decrease for each during this past year.