I really need help with this project!!!

ACC 201 Project page 1

ACC 201 Research Project (20% of final grade)

For this research project, you will apply the DuPont Analysis and the Activity Ratios to the Financial

Statements for PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES of your choice. Decide which company will be

your MAIN Company and then choose a competitor. It cannot be a company that you have used in

the past or currently for another assignment in another class. All work must be YOUR original.

NOTE: This information may also be used for your ACC 202 and ACC 203 class, so guard the

information (email it to yourself, save to flash drive, save to hard drive, etc)!!! Upload financial

statements, reports, in MS Excel, it will be easier to manipulate.

Quickly decide on your company and competitor. No duplications for main company or competitor;

companies can only be used once. The first who post has precedence. Make sure you read prior

posts to ensure that you are not duplicating. Place the name of the MAIN Company first then the

Competitor second in the subject field (AC Moore/Michaels – AC Moore is my main company).

Submit to the ACC 201 Project Company/Competitor Discussion Folder the companies you have

selected by the deadline posted. No changes made after the deadline. If you decide to change, EDIT

your initial posting but make sure that no one else has selected the same company.

Do a preliminary search before selecting your company to ensure you can find the information

needed (financial statements, ratios, reports, current article); purpose why it must be a publicly traded

company. Do know that some companies may be reporting based on IFRS so the statement names

may differ as well as the format. DO NOT make any changes. You will upload and submit the

information just like you retrieve from your resource/websites.

Ratio Analysis (35%) - Submit to the 201 Project Ratios Dropbox by the advertised deadline.

Create and set up a ratio analysis (use 3 decimal places) for the most current year in MS Excel (use Chapter 5 Illustration 5A-1 page 246). Choose eight (8) of the 17 (seventeen) ratios listed. You must have at least one ratio from each category (liquidity, activity, profitability, coverage).

Include all ratios on ONE (1) MS Excel Worksheet for both the Main Company and Competitor. Include all data/numbers used to calculate the ratios. Show what numbers are used and label appropriately. Make sure that you are using the same time period. It may be necessary to upload quarterly reports so that the same time period is being used to compare for both companies. Be creative in your presentation of the ratios. DO NOT just give the ratio amount. Utilize formulas whenever possible. The analysis will be the hub of the PowerPoint Presentation.

To complete your ratio analysis, also upload the complete Income Statement/Profit and Loss, Retained Earnings/Equity Statement and Balance Sheet for both companies. Place the same financial statement for both companies on ONE worksheet but each financial statement is on a separate worksheet.

You are not limited to the below, but some websites that may be helpful: the company’s website;

current news/articles; http://money.msn.com/; http://reports.finance.yahoo.com/;

http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks; and the accounting libguide (located on the D2L homepage) which includes the link to Lexis Nexis and Business Essentials (TTC Library).

ACC 201 Project page 2

Summary using MS Word (40%) - Submit to the Project Paper dropbox by the deadline date.

Write a summary (MS Word) of your findings using MLA format. Length is three FULL (3) pages with

page four (4) being the work cited page. No direct quotes, no bulleting, due to brevity of the paper. Do

not include how you calculate the ratios, assume this is understood (i.e. don’t state “current ratio is

current assets over current liabilities and measure the ability to pay short to debt”).

Give a brief introduction of both companies. What is required is the explanation and comparison of

the reason for how and why the ratios differ amongst the two companies (i.e. A company has more

assets to pay off debt, therefore A Company is more liquid than B Company. Company B is having

problems with collecting their receivables). Avoid restating the ratios/percentages but concentrate on

the differences that is seen between the two companies for each ratio. It is acceptable to have a few

lines of information flow onto the work cited page, if needed. It may be easier to present the ratios

based on the category/classification but do not include excessive spacing. Abbreviations of the ratios

in the paper are acceptable (i.e. ROA).

In your conclusion, you will state which company you chose to invest and why.

Note: Turnitin.com is activated for the Word Summary. The program will produce an analysis of your

paper. If analysis is over 25% review to ensure you are documenting your content appropriately. You

must submit first in order to see the analysis.

PowerPoint Presentation (four minutes/10-12 slides minimum) (25%) - Submit to the Project

PPT Dropbox AND Project PowerPoint Discussion (if online) by the advertised deadline.

Make sure to include an introductory slide. Face to face presentations should state an interesting fact

you would like to share. The bulk of your presentation will be the comparison of the ratios for both

companies. The presentation should give the “audience” the information needed to make an informed

decision as to which company to invest. DO NOT give your decision as to which company you chose

to invest.

FACE TO FACE CLASS – in your presentation you WILL NOT state your decision as to which

company to invest. It will be stated in the conclusion to your paper. The audience will make their

decision based on your presentation.

ONLINE CLASS ONLY – in addition to the above, since you are not presenting, upload your

presentation to the Project PowerPoint Discussion Folder by the advertised deadline. Place the

Main Company and Competitor name in the subject field. AFTER you have posted your presentation,

REPLY to ALL classmate’s posting (you are an investor/creditor). Erase the subject field to your reply

of your classmate and replace with the company name you selected to invest in of your classmate.

Also state why in the message field. Content reply (4 to 5 sentences).

Grading

Based on creativity, free from grammar/spelling errors, adherence to requirements given above and

presentation of information so that an informed reader can make a decision based on information

provided. Each will be submitted to a separate folder so that grading is given on each aspect of the

project. Business Attire is required for face to face class or you can be creative.