Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to expose you to the basic process involved in the analysis of the cash flow statement.

Assignment Steps

Resources: Appendix A of Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making

Note: This is a two part assignment.

Part 1

Answer questions A-F in problem CT12-1 in Financial Accounting (p. 640).

Provide an 875-word analysis of your findings.

Include conclusions concerning the management of the company’s cash.

Part 2

Complete a 1,050-word summary of findings and recommendations from the following questions:

What is the par or stated value per share of Apple’s common stock?
What percentage of Apple’s authorized common stock was issued at September 27, 2014?
How many shares of common stock were outstanding at September 28, 2013, and at September 27, 2014?
Calculate the payout ratio, earnings per share, and return on common stockholders’ equity for 2014.

Use the Week 5 Excel^Â® spreadsheet and submit with your analysis and summary.

Specimen Financial Statements: Apple Inc.

Once each year, a corporation communicates to its stockholders and other interested parties by issuing a complete set of audited financial statements. The annual report, as this communication is called, summarizes the financial results of the company’s operations for the year and its plans for the future. Many annual reports are attractive, multicolored, glossy public relations pieces, containing pictures of corporate officers and directors as well as photos and descriptions of new products and new buildings. Yet the basic function of every annual report is to report financial information, almost all of which is a product of the corporation’s accounting system.

The content and organization of corporate annual reports have become fairly standardized. Excluding the public relations part of the report (pictures, products, etc.), the following are the traditional financial portions of the annual report:

Financial Highlights
Letter to the Stockholders
Management’s Discussion and Analysis
Financial Statements
Notes to the Financial Statements
Management’s Responsibility for Financial Reporting
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Selected Financial Data

The official SEC filing of the annual report is called a Form 10â€K, which often omits the public relations pieces found in most standard annual reports. On the following pages, we present Apple Inc.‘s financial statements taken from the company’s 2014 Form 10â€K. To access Apple’s Form 10â€K, including notes to the financial statements, follow these steps: