MBA 557 - Accounting Applications for Management

Corporate financial reports and other disclosure documents are excellent sources for current financial statistics and for other detailed information about the operations of publicly traded companies. These documents include not only annual reports to stockholders but also the various reports that U.S. companies are required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission: an Annual Report to SEC (called the 10-K); Quarterly Financial Report (10-Q); Report of Unscheduled Material Events or Corporate Changes (8-K); 10-C, which is similar to 8-K for OTC (Over The Counter) companies;

You can obtain SEC Filings from the following sources:

1. From the Guided Search area, [What are you interested in?]. highlight Company Info.
2. In the next box, [Search in all Company Information for:], type your company. For example, Home Depot.
3. In the next box,  [..and show me], use the down arrow and highlight: SEC filings.

4. In the Results page, use the Timeline filter in the left column to limit the time frame.

Besides giving comparative financial statements for the current and past years, some give divisional reports of past activities and future plans. Many companies will feature links to the digitized version of their annual reports from their company Internet site. Look for the link to Investor Relations.

An interactive video tutorial produced by members of the Accounting Dept. at Baruch College (The City University of New York). It covers income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. Once completed, you should be able to understand the structure and purpose of these statements.