Unit 5: Financial Reporting and Financial Statement Analysis
In this unit, you will learn about financial reporting and examine the financial statements of a public company. Public companies are required to file their financial statements with the SEC on a quarterly and annual basis. The SEC has a standard format for presenting financial information that helps us read and interpret financial information.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 5 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- locate public company financial statements and read and interpret financial statements.
5.1: Financial Reporting
This article goes behind the scenes to discuss issues of reporting financial information for public companies. GAAP is integral in reporting transactions.
This is a great introduction to resources that you can use to research any public company. All public companies must report their financials; quarterly reports, end of your tax forms, changes in top management, and so on. If you ever need to look up a company, this will give you the tools you need to navigate the public records system.
Although learning how to read a report sounds pedantic, you might be surprised at how much valuable information they offer.
5.2: Financial Statement Analysis
Read the short chapter 17, which discusses how to analyze financial statements and demonstrates the use of ratios and the horizontal and vertical analysis tools that everyone from creditors to investors, vendors, and top management use when they want to identify the strengths and weaknesses in an organization.
Unit 5 Assessment
- Receive a grade
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.
