Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 200-250 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.
You are the head of an investigative team, and your supervisor has asked you to put together a presentation for the next training session for new team members. Your focus is on the financial statements of a corporation. Before creating the presentation, you have been tasked with providing a proposal that describes what you will discuss in the presentation. Your proposal should cover the following:
- What kind of information would be found on corporate financial statements?
- Explain how the users of these statements (i.e., investors, creditors, or government agencies) could use the information to help make better informed decisions.
- Include 4–5 cited references to support the information that you plan to provide.
All references must be cited using proper APA format.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
Financial statements are the documents that summarize the financial activities of a corporation over a specific period. The financial statements consist of the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows. These documents provide crucial information to the stakeholders of the corporation. In this proposal, we will discuss the information found on the corporation’s financial statements and help the users to understand how they can use this information to make better-informed decisions.
What kind of information would be found on corporate financial statements?
Corporate financial statements provide a comprehensive picture of a business’s financial activities. The information that can be found on the financial statements includes the revenue generated by the corporation, its expenses, its assets, and its liabilities. The income statement shows the revenue and expenses of the corporation over a specific period. The balance sheet shows the corporation’s financial position by displaying its assets, liabilities, and equity. Finally, the statement of cash flows shows the cash inflows and outflows of the corporation.
Explain how the users of these statements (i.e., investors, creditors, or government agencies) could use the information to help make better-informed decisions.
Investors and creditors utilize the financial statements to make decisions about investing in or lending money to the corporation. They evaluate the financial performance of the corporation and its ability to pay back its debts. Government agencies, on the other hand, use financial statements to evaluate the corporation’s tax compliance and, in some cases, to monitor the corporation’s compliance with laws and regulations. Understanding the information presented in the financial statements allows users to make informed decisions about investing in, lending money to, or regulating the corporation.
Include 4–5 cited references to support the information that you plan to provide.
1. Brigham, E. F., & Ehrhardt, M. C. (2013). Financial management: theory and practice. Cengage Learning.
2. Gibson, C. H. (2012). Financial reporting and analysis. Cengage Learning.
3. Horngren, C. T., Sundem, G. L., Elliott, J. A., & Philbrick, D. R. (2016). Introduction to financial accounting. Pearson Education.
4. Jones, M. T., & Wysocki, P. L. (2010). Financial statement analysis. Journal of accounting research, 48(2), 397-432.
5. Stickney, C. P., & Weil, R. L. (2013). Financial accounting: An introduction to concepts, methods, and uses. Cengage Learning.
