Description
Look up your favorite company’s website (or the website of any large corporation) on the Internet. Once you are on the company’s corporate website, look up their financial statements and find the balance sheet. Some examples of companies may be Disney, Coca Cola, Apple, or any others you are interested in.
Hint: you may have to look for the investor relations section on the website. In this section, you will see links to the current annual reports, which include financial statements.
Once you find the balance sheet for the company, carefully analyze it and answer the following questions:
What type of format does this company use for their balance sheet (classified or not)? Why do you think the company selected the format they did for their balance sheet? Overall, what does this company’s balance sheet say about the financial standing of the company? Are there any other sections of the balance sheet that you would be concerned with if you were an investor? What are they and why? How do you think this information could be useful for investors, financial statement users and the public?
Part 2
Review the annual report for the company that you chose for Discussion Question 1. Within the annual report, find the disclosures, management’s discussion and analysis, and any other related disclosures. Discuss your findings. Do you feel there was sufficient information in the disclosures regarding the company or was information omitted that you would like to know more about? Why or why not? How did the disclosures affect your overall analysis and opinion of the company’s financial standing?
Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Running head: ANALYZING THE BALANCE SHEET
Analyzing the Balance Sheet
Institutional Affiliation
Date
1
2
ANALYZING THE BALANCE SHEET
Part One
Balance Sheet
The company that has been chosen in this assignment is McDonald's. McDonald's is a
fast-food company based in the United States. Its headquarters are located in San Bernardino
California. McDonald's uses a classified balance sheet format. McDonald's uses the classified
balance sheet format because it helps the company in presents its financial information about the
assets, liabilities, and shareholders’ equity which is aggregated into small individual categories.
This type of balance is essential because it categorizes assets and liabilities into small groups
such as long term and current. It makes it simple and easier for the reader to understand the
financial information presented in the balance sheet. It makes it easie...