Acct 202-01 and -02 Spring 2016
Financial Statement Analysis Project
Overview:
Each project team analyzes a U.S.-headquartered publicly traded company of its choice. Teams
prepare Excel spreadsheets with calculations and supporting data for classmates to study. In
consideration of this information, each team recommends the company that would be the best
investment. Work is due at the start of class on the dates indicated.
Part 1 (due January 21 and 26):
(a) Each team will send me the name of the company it wants to analyze. I must approve your
choice BEFORE THE START OF CLASS ON JANUARY 21. Please make every effort to choose
companies other than the usual, famous companies everyone knows and wants to study.
Treat this project as an opportunity to explore an interesting, lesser-known business.
(b) BY THE START OF CLASS ON JANUARY 26, you will locate your company’s most recent
annual report or SEC Form 10-K. Depending on its year end date, it could be the fiscal 2014 or
2015 annual report. The report will be available as a PDF file on your company’s investor
relations website. Save the file for yourself and send me a copy of the PDF file. In your e-mail
message, please tell me the fiscal year end date for your company. Also identify the names of
the reportable business segments for your company. These will be identified in the MD&A
section and/or the notes accompanying the financial statements – you have to read and
discover this on your own.
Part 2:
From your company’s most recent annual report, prepare an Excel spreadsheet with the amount
of the items below for the two most recent years in your annual report. Show the dollar amounts
and percentage changes for all items (use formulas for your calculation cells). Label the
worksheet tab “Part 2”.
 Current assets
 Total revenue
 Total assets
 Gross profit
 Current liabilities
 Operating income
 Total liabilities
 Net income
 Total stockholders’ equity
 Basic earnings per share (EPS)
Part 3:
On the next worksheet in your spreadsheet, calculate the following ratios for the most recent year
in your annual report. Label this worksheet tab “Part 3”.
 Return on assets (ROA)
 Current ratio
 Return on equity (ROE)
 Gross margin percentage
 Debt ratio
 Operating margin percentage
 Debt-to-equity ratio
 Net margin percentage (return on sales)
You can obtain the ratios from Chapter 12 and this Inc. Magazine website. Your worksheet must
show the actual data from the financial statements and the ratio cells need to use Excel formulas for
the calculations. When you click on cell C3, for example, the formula =12736+946 appears:
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15-December-2015
Ratios for Procter & Gamble - FY 2015
Amounts in millions
Return on assets
$
$
Net income
Total assets
13,682
131,503
Ratio
10.4%
Part 4:
(a) From the annual report or 10-K, provide the following information for the current year:

Inventory method used

Depreciation method used

Name of the firm that audited the company’s financial statements

Net cash from (or used for) operating activities for each of the past 3 years

Total (not per share) common dividends paid each year for the past 3 years
Please provide the PDF file page number (page # appearing in the Acrobat toolbar) where you found
each of the above items.
(b) Prepare (customize, then copy and paste) the following three graphs for your company:
 Daily stock price for January 2016.
 Weekly stock price (usually expressed as %s) for the trailing twelve months compared to the
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA).
 Monthly stock price (usually expressed as %s) for the past five years compared to one of its
industry competitors.
For this task, you can use charting features available through the online Wall Street Journal or
Yahoo! Finance. Label the worksheet tab “Part 4”.
Part 5 (due March 1):
(a) Compile a professional looking Excel spreadsheet that includes all of the previously prepared
information. This is to be prepared in a single Excel file using appropriately labeled and
professional organized/prepared worksheets. Each team will send its file to me, which I will
share with classmates. Please remember to use the “print preview” function to see how each
page in the file will print. Be sure you adjust the settings so that each tab is printable on one
sheet of paper AND will not render in tiny font.
(b) Each individual will prepare a one to two page reflection paper about the project. Please tell me
what skills you learned and developed as a result of working on this project. In addition,
describe the changes I could make to the project to improve it for future semesters.
Part 6 (due March 29):
(a) Each student nominates one project team to receive a merit award (8 points) for the most
professional looking spreadsheet file.
(b) Each team submits a three to four page report analyzing the information presented and selecting
the company (from among a smaller number of companies that I will choose) that would be the
best investment. Each team’s recommendation should present comparative results of all
information provided in the Excel files.
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