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Financial ratios essay
Roles in financial ratios
Financial ratios essay
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Introduction An important part of financial planning for corporations is the annual report. Publically held companies are required to submit an annual report to the SEC and private companies, even though not required, can use an annual report to gauge the performance of the company for the past year and use the report to plan for the future. The financial statements that make up an annual report are the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows. (Melicher, 2014) Once all of the financial information has been compiled and the three statements that make up the annual report have been completed a corporation can then start to analyze the data. There are several different categories of financial ratios …show more content…
The purpose of an income statement is to report the revenue generated and the expenses incurred by a corporation for the past year. (Melicher, 2014) The gross revenue is the first item on the financial statement followed by several expenses and then the net revenue. One of the expenses a corporation incurs is the cost of goods sold, which is the amount of money it costs a corporation to produce or manufacture the items sold to generate a profit. The second expense on a financial statement is the cost of record keeping, preparing financial statements, advertising, and salaries grouped under the heading “Selling, general, marketing expenses”. The other expenses on an income statement are depreciation, interest expense, and the unavoidable income tax. (Melicher, 2014) Once all of these expenses haven been deducted from the gross revenue a company has an accurate depiction of their net …show more content…
The collection of these three financial statements identifies the financial position of the corporation to help identify the way forward financially for the company. Once all of the data has been collected for the annual reporting the corporation can analyze the data through the different financial ratios including the liquidity ratio, the asset management ratio, and the profitability ratio. References Candor Equities Limited. 2012. “Types of Financial Ratios”. Investing Fundamentals Candor Equities Limited Online. http://cel.candor-holdings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/types_of_financial_ratios_19mar_2012.pdf. (Accessed 11 October 2015) Melicher, Ronald W. and Norton, Edgar A. 2014. "Introduction to Finance: Markets, Investments, and Financial Management. 15th Edition". New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons,
Financial statement users around the globe use financial statements to evaluate the performance of companies (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006). In order to locate a company’s reported assets, liabilities, expenses and revenues, statement users rely on four types of financial statements. The four financial statements include: Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Retained Earnings, and Statement of Cash Flows (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p. 6). Each of these reports provides different information to the financial statement user. The Balance Sheet reports at a point in time: a company’s assets (what it owns), liabilities (what it owes) and stockholder’s equity (what is left over for the owners) (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p.7). The Income Statement shows whether a business made a profit (net income) during a specific period of time (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p. 10). The Statement of Retained Earnings illustrates what portions of the company’s earnings was paid to stockholders and retained by the company for future operations (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p.12). Finally, the Statement of Cash Flows reports summarizes how a business’ “operating, investing, and financial activities caused its cash balance to change over a particular range of time” (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p.13).
The first method we will review is the accounting method. Through this accounting approach we will analyze specific ratios and their possible impact on the company's performance. The specific ratios we will review include the return on total assets, return on equity, gross profit margin, earnings per share, price earnings ratio, debt to assets, debt to equity, accounts receivable turnover, total asset turnover, fixed asset turnover, and average collection period. I will explain each ratio in greater detail, and why I have included it in this analysis, when I give the results of each specific ratio calculation.
...e an income statement needs to be looked at to show if the business is making a profit and if the expenses are too high or what has change in revenue from year to year. This is just an example of many other sources need to be looked at before deciding on the financial position of the entity.
Information from the income statement and the balance sheet are used to calculate financial ratios that are useful when making investment decisions.
The report will give an overview of each company, an explanation of what type of companies we are analyzing, the purpose of each company in terms of its goals and objectives, the products and services each company produces, and what future prospects we see these companies having. The reader should gain an understanding of each company as well. We also analyze the type of industry these companies are competing in. This will help us understand where each company fits in the marketplace. This is important because it places the two companies into a broader picture. The most important part of the financial report is the financial statement analysis. In this, the annual report of each company was analyzed. It studies the firms’ past earnings to understand their operating performances. It also forecasts future profitability and risk (short-term and long term). The financial statements give information on how these risks affect expected return. In the end, the reader will have an understanding of the two companies, the industry in which they operate, its financial standing in the past and present, and future profitability.
In conclusion, a company’s financial statements regarding its financial position are critical to all concerned. First and foremost, these financial statements provide critical tools for companies to make decisions to improve its share value in the global market of fierce competition. Secondly, they provide accountability to shareholders and stakeholders in the company providing better stability in its business practices and requirements regarding the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Lastly, financial statements paint a picture that gives a measurable to the success of a dream once birthed long ago by an entrepreneur to get an idea to the marketplace with great expectations of striking it rich.
Important factors of a company’s outlook are its financial strength and weaknesses. These factors can be evaluated by reviewing the firm’s financial statements and using ratios to help measure a company’s liquidity, leverage, activity, profitability, and growth. Financial ratios are computed by using the information found in a company’s financial statements: primarily income statement and balance sheet. The calculations from the current year, previous years, and other companies in the industry are used as a basis to identify and ev...
The income statement will report the revenues generated and expenses experienced by the firm over a certain period like a quarter or a year. There are several major types of expenses on the income sheet and they are operating income, income tax and cost of goods sold or COGS. Cost of goods sold is the cost of making or manufacturing the goods sold to earn more money. They reflect the production such as labor, raw materials, these are direct costs. They will also vary because the amount of goods produced will vary day to day (Melicher, Norton, 2013). The operating
Information on the financial statement can offer an overview of a company’s performance over the past fiscal year. However, gaining crucial investment insights requires financial manipulation that yields financial ratios.
Financial statements can be broadly analyzed through ratio analysis. A ratio of selected values on an enterprises financial statement is financial ratio. To evaluate the overall financial condition of a corporation or other organization there are standard ratios are used. The market price of the shares is used in regular financial ratios if division in a company traded in a financial market. The values are taken from the balance sheet, cash flow statement, income statement and retain earning statement for the purpose of analyzing the financial ratios.
Financial statements are those statements which provide information about profitability and financial position of a business. It includes two statements, i.e., profit & loss a/c or income statement and bal...
Income statements also called Profit and Loss statements (statement of earnings, income, or operations). These statements are used to report the company’s net profit or loss over a specified financial period. It is arrived by deducting the company’s expenses from the company’s total income.
Business owners’ use at least four major financial statements to keep a grasps on their company 's finances during a specific time frame. Financial statements are usually completed monthly, quarterly, semiannually and annually. The major financial statements include the statement of cash flows, the statement of stockholder 's equity, the balance sheet, and the income statement. Each one provides a different awareness into a company 's financial status in the stated period.
Financial statements can provide a wealth of information about a given organization. These statements provide information about the company’s financial position, cash flows, operations, performance and changes in the financial position. This information may be used as part of the decision making process for employees, shareholders, investors and competitors. Based upon these financial statements, key ratios are used to provide additional insight as to the financial health of a given company. Being familiar with financial statements can increase financial literacy. For this discussion, Citigroup’s (Citi) financial statements will be reviewed.
Owners and managers require financial statements to make important business decisions that affect its continued operations. Financial analysis is then performed on these statements to provide management with a more detailed understanding of the figures. These statements are also used as part of management's annual report to the stockholders.