financial analysis paper

You are required to complete a written paper, semester project, which will cover all of the course embedded assessment objectives listed in the syllabus. The project will be completed throughout the semester as the material is covered. Due dates for Milestones are required to allow sufficient time to complete the analysis, form a conclusion, and write an acceptable analysis of the company.

Project Instructions

Think of an international company that you assume had a better or worse fiscal year 2020 compared to prior fiscal years. You will need to locate comparative financial statements for the company and analyze at least three fiscal years.

The following outline is provided for guidance. Each part must be included but does not have to be in the same order as the suggested outline. You will analyze the international company by examining the trends, comparing to competitors, evaluating the recent economic impact, and deciding why the company would or would not be a good investment and if your assumption was correct (conclusion). The report should also include an analysis of the international operations of the company. Also, as part of the conclusion, feel free to analyze what the company should do to correct any financial or operational problems.

The objective is to write a Financial Statement Analysis paper written in paragraph form. If you are having difficulty with beginning your analysis, start by calculating trends on each of the financial statements and then analyze what those trends mean and how they affect other accounts and/or statements. Remember, the book is a ‘how to manual’ of how to analyze financial statements. There is also guidance at the end of each chapter within the Ongoing Analysis Project (Ch 1-6). In order to analyze sufficiently, you must first read the textbook. Refer to the Descriptive vs Analytical reference in D2L. Feel free to use outside resources, including the company webpage, EDGAR database (competitor analysis), annual report, MD&A, analyst reports, journal articles, news releases, etc. Make sure all sources are appropriately cited. As part of the completed paper, you will need to complete a ratio analysis. Are the ratios strong, weak, more or less liquid, contain more or less risk? Again, the following outline is a suggestion of the format to use when compiling the data retrieved on the company. If sufficient analysis is completed on Milestone 1, you will be able to insert that submission into your final paper. The project accounts for 25% of your semester average. The due date for each Milestone is shown in the table below as well as D2L. Late submissions will not receive points but will receive feedback, if needed. The introduction should provide information summarizing and supporting the evidence and data obtained from the analysis; therefore, it is part of the final Milestone.

The goal is not a paper that just summarizes the data, but a thorough analysis of the international company. The focus of this exercise is to analyze financial data and to make a formal written recommendation, something you would give to your employer or a client, not merely describe the numbers and trends. Examples of past projects submitted are uploaded in myLeo Online (D2L), which will assist with the formatting and content expected.

Recommended Outline

I. Introduction

a. Brief description of the company

b. Objective of paper

c. Assumption of 2020 results

d. Summary of findings

II. Firm, Industry, and Environment

a. Description of company and its management

b. Discussion of competitive environment (use Porter’s 5 Forces located in D2L and data included in the 10K)

c. Economic climate and outlook

d. Other factors (governmental regulations, labor relations, litigation…)

III. Balance Sheet Analysis- must include common-size statement (Milestone 1)

IV. Income Statement Analysis- must include common-size statement

V. Cash Flow Analysis- Summary Analysis extra credit

VI. Ratio Calculation of Financial Statements

VII. Summary and Conclusion

a. Summary- Basic understanding of the firm, its past performance, its expected future performance, and the justification for your overall conclusion of the firm. This part should be able to stand alone as a summary of your analysis.

b. What conclusions do you derive about the company and its potential?

VIII. Appendix (not included in the 10 page minimum)

a. List of all tables, statements, and figures you create, or reference

b. Only include those attachments that are relevant for the analysis and discussed in the paper

IX. Bibliography/References (not included in the 10 page minimum)

Specifics

To complete this project, you will work individually. A Submission Folder has been created for each Milestone in D2L. The project should be prepared and uploaded in Word using font size 12 Times New Roman, paragraph form, double spaced, and one-inch margins. The minimum length required for the final paper to receive any credit is 10 pages (without parts VIII & IX and any tables/charts). You must prepare a Common Size Balance Sheet, Common Size Income Statement, and Statement of Cash Flows Summary Analysis (extra credit) to analyze and include them in your final paper. Be sure to appropriately cite relevant resources using APA style. You must cite any information or idea that is not yours that you are using in your project. Upon review of the first Milestone submission, the instructor will return comments to the student if glaring issues are evident; if you are on track, the instructor will only indicate the document was submitted timely. Again, late submissions will not receive points but will receive feedback, if needed. Refer to the table below that will be used when grading the project. Your grade will be based on your application of the tools taught throughout the semester to analyze financial statements. Also ensure proper grammar and punctuation is used. Poorly written papers will have points deducted.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism : Using someone else’s ideas/thoughts and not giving proper credit.

Plagiarism represents disregard for academic standards and is strictly against University policy. Refer to the Academic Dishonesty Policy for sanctions. Plagiarized work will result in an “F” for the course and further administrative sanctions permitted under University policy. Guidelines for properly quoting someone else’s writing and the proper citing of sources can be found in the APA publication manual.

Project Rubric (10 page minimum required for grading)

	Exceeds Standards	Meets Minimum Standards	Fails to Meet Standards
Effective Written Communication Paper was prepared according to written instructions, cited references, and proper use of punctuation and grammar.	Paper was clear, thorough, and prepared according to the outline. Followed APA format and had minimal grammatical mistakes. Provided adequate citations.	Thorough analysis. Included all parts of the outline. Has some grammatical mistakes. Provided adequate citations.	Met none of the basic criteria for the outline or failed to follow APA format. Has many grammatical mistakes and hard to read and understand.
Analysis of Various Sections Uses financial concepts/tools. Uses concepts from each chapter to analyze the company chosen and its industry and competitors.	Applied the proper financial analysis, theories, and concepts to the company analysis. Supporting calculations and explanations are included.	Minimally demonstrated knowledge of, and/or capability to apply financial concepts/financial analysis to the company.	Failed to demonstrate knowledge of or application of concepts/tools learned.

Due Dates and Distribution of Points

Milestone	% of Project/ % Final Grade	Due Date
1	10% (2.5%)	10/24/2021
2 (Completed paper)	90% (22.5%)	12/06/2021