ACCT 201 001 Fall 2016 Annual Report Project

Instructions:
Please do not put your paper in a cover or portfolio. Turn it in stapled – you may use a cover page with your• Your paper will be approximately 5-8 typed pages in length • Due date: 11-7-16 •
This is a paper. Do not address the assigned questions by using bullet points. Instead, incorporate your answers into an essay format. Use the annual report that you received. Do not research online to answer these questions using more up-to-date quarterly information that the company has filed.• You will work independently on this project. Do not work with anyone else or share your work with anyone else. You are working under the honor code which indicates that you have been honest and have not observed any dishonesty while working on this project. • Late policy: 5 points will be deducted for each day that the project is late. If you will be submitting your report late, please email it to me. • Review your work to make sure you have addressed and answered all parts of the assignment. • Format: double space • Please staple before turning it in. Please don’t ask me to staple it for you. • Label each section of your work. For example “A. Introduction”•name if you wish.
A. Introduction (25 points)
Main geographic area of activity• Description of the company’s principal products or services • Ending date (month, day, and year) of the latest fiscal year • Location of the home office • Name of the chief executive officer •Write a summary and incorporate the following into this introduction (use the annual report to find this information):
Name of the company’s independent auditors. In your own words, explain what the accountants said about the company’s financial statements. (Examples of auditors’ reports are on A-15 and B-16 in your textbook.•
The amount of dividend the company pays. Please state whether you are presenting this figure for the whole year or on a quarterly basis. Present this figure on a per share basis. Obtain this information from the annual report – you will be indicating the amount of dividends paid during the year covered by the annual report• The most recent price of the company’s stock. Be sure to provide the date for which you report this price. Yahoo Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/) is a good website to use to obtain the latest price using your company’s ticker symbol. •Look for this type of audit opinion in your annual report).
B. Company Situation (15 points)
Describe the company’s situation and its outlook by reading the letter to the shareholders and Management’s•
Discussion and Analysis. Summarize these two areas of the report and give your opinion on the company’ssituation and outlook.
C. Financial Statements (35 points)
Income Statement (also called: Statement of Earnings, Statement of Operations, Statement of Income) o Is the format most like a single-step or multi-step format? (an example of single-step is on p.10 and•
an example of multi-step on p.266 in the textbook) For your company, answer the indicated items. For this part of the assignment, do not copy the income statement or reproduce it. Just indicate these items and comment on their increase or decrease from the previous year. Remember that Management’s Discussion and Analysis is a good
Ross Stores, Inc.– State the amount of sales, cost of goods sold, and selling, general and administrative expenses for each of the last two years. Comment on the increases or• Amazon.com, Inc. – State the amount of total net sales, cost of sales, and fulfillment for each of the last two years. Comment on the increases or decreases in these amounts. •source of information for the analysis. Do not just indicate the amount of the increase or decrease; also give the reason for the fluctuation from the prior year.
Snyder’s-Lance, Inc. – State the amount of net revenue, gross margin, and selling, general and administrative expenses for each of the last two years. Comment on the increases or decreases in these amounts.•decreases in these amounts.
Balance Sheet•
o Show that Assets = Liabilities + Stockholders’ Equity for the last two years (For this part of the assignment do not just copy the balance sheet or reproduce it. Simply show that A=L+SE: $120,000 = $80,000+$40,000 for example)
Statement of Cash Flows•
o Indicate whether the company is expanding through investing activities (p.508-509 includes a good summary of the cash flow statement – remember that a net cash OUTFLOW in this section would indicate investing in long term assets) o For each of the last two years, how much has total cash increased or decreased.D. Accounting Policies (25 points)
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) requires that the financial statements include a Summary of Significant Accounting Principles. In most cases, this summary is presented in the first note to the financial statements or as a separate section just before the notes. In your textbook, pages A-9 through A-13 provide an example of this summary. For your company, summarize in your own words the topics indicated.•
Inventories Fulfillment  Cost of Sales o Amazon.com, Inc.
Property and Equipment, Net Accounts Receivable, Net and Other 
o Ross Stores, Inc.
Revenue Recognition Store Closures  Property and Equipment  Cost of Goods Sold  Merchandise Inventory 
o Snyder’s-Lance, Inc.
Shipping and Handling Costs Research and Development  Allowance for Doubtful Accounts  Revenue Recognition 