First Course Project: The Purpose Of This Project Is To Help
First Course Projectthe Purpose Of This Project Is To Help You Develop
The purpose of this project is to help you develop skills not only in performing the calculations behind financial analysis but interpreting the numbers as well. You are to pick a company. You should pick one either from the industry in which you are currently working or an industry in which you are interested. You could also pick a division of a company. It is imperative to use that sufficient data about your company and that it is available.
One way to do this is to pick a publicly held company. If you pick a privately held company or a division of a company, make sure that the data necessary to do a significant financial analysis is available. If you use data that is not publicly available, be sure to talk to your manager and to make absolutely sure that revealing that data is not a problem. You will also need to find a standard against which to compare your findings. This could be a different company in the same industry.
This could also be the same company at a different time. Additionally, average or benchmark numbers are available for several industries. If you decide to use a different company in the same industry or the same company at a different time, make sure that there are enough differences between the two to make an analysis meaningful. After you have selected a company, put yourself in the place of an analyst who has been asked to perform an analysis of the company and provide a recommendation to management. Use ratio analysis, common size analysis, or other techniques to determine areas in which the company is doing well as well as areas that management should look at.
Then, present your analysis and recommendations in the form of a paper. A good place to start would be to perform a complete DuPont analysis of the company and compare it to the standard. The DuPont analysis might provide guidance as to what particular areas of the company should be examined next and what ratios should be calculated. If the DuPont analysis does not reveal anything useful, you might wish to calculate several of the ratios that are available to you. Deliverable The completed paper should be about 1,000 words long.
In the paper, you do not have to explain the ratios in depth. You may assume that the reader has a basic understanding of finance and knows what ratio analysis is, although he or she might not be able to list all the ratios and how to calculate them from memory. The reader is not going to want a lot of background about financial analysis. He or she really wants information that he or she can apply to the given situation, which is the company that you have selected. If you like, you can write the paper in the form of a memo to management.
You do not have to cite your source for how to calculate the ratios. You do need to provide a reference to where you got that data not only for your subject company but for the other company or standard to which you compared your company. · The spirit of this assignment is for you to calculate and interpret the results. The purpose is not for you to find calculations and interpretations that have been done by someone else. · The paper is expected to conform to the standards for graduate school writing. · The purpose of your analysis is internal evaluation. Refrain from using stock market valuation ratios. When you have completed the project, place it in one Word document and place that document in the appropriate dropbox.
Paper For Above instruction
The First Course Project aims to cultivate a comprehensive understanding of financial analysis by emphasizing both calculation and interpretation. The core task involves selecting a company—preferably from one’s current industry, an industry of personal interest, or a division within a larger firm—provided that sufficient and accessible data are available. The strategy should be to choose a publicly traded company to streamline the process; however, if privately held entities or divisions are selected, ensure that relevant data can be obtained legally and confidently.
Once a suitable company is identified, the next step entails establishing a comparative benchmark, which can be a peer company within the same industry, the company’s historical financials, or industry averages—such comparisons are essential to contextualize the analysis and ascertain performance differentials. The goal is to adopt an analytical mindset akin to a financial analyst tasked with evaluating the company’s financial health for management, providing clear, actionable insights based on ratio analysis, common size financial statements, or other analytical techniques.
Performing a Dupont analysis is recommended as a starting point, as it decomposes Return on Equity into constituent ratios—profitability, asset efficiency, and leverage—providing nuanced diagnostic information about strengths and weaknesses. If the Dupont analysis does not yield conclusive insights, further ratio calculations covering liquidity, profitability, leverage, and efficiency ratios should be performed.
The final deliverable—a comprehensive report of approximately 1,000 words—must synthesize the findings into an evaluative narrative. While technical details like ratio calculations need not be overly explained for an informed audience, the report should interpret the ratios in context, highlighting areas of strength and concern. It should also include strategic recommendations for management based on the analysis.
The report can adopt the format of a memo directed at company management, emphasizing practical implications over theoretical exposition. Proper referencing of data sources—such as financial statements, industry reports, or databases—is mandatory to substantiate the analysis but not necessary for standard ratio calculation methods. The report aims to present original insights through calculation and interpretation, not replication of existing analyses.
Adherence to graduate-level writing standards for clarity, coherence, and professionalism is expected. Finally, the completed document must be submitted as a Word file via the designated dropbox for evaluation and feedback.