This is the final submission for the CLC project. The final submission includes the Project Assignment 1 and 2 items incorporated into the final document.  This is a group paper that includes a discussion of which company provides the better notes to the financial statements for the reader as well as conforms best to FASB disclosure requirements. Refer to the Collaborative Learning Community Project Overview in the Course Materials for further information.

Items for Analysis:

Additional Criteria for Final Submission (Choose E or F AND G or H).

E. Review the notes to the financial statements to determine if your companies disclose any contingencies and/or commitments. What are the contingencies or commitments the result of? Determine if the contingencies are remote, reasonability possible or probable. Discuss how you know the category in which the contingency is (remote, reasonability possible or probable). Include information from the note to support your findings. How does each company comply with the rules as provided in the FASB Codification?

F. Determine if your company has assets under capital lease on its balance sheet. Explain the details of the leasing transactions, capital or operating, based on the amounts and disclosures found in the financial statements and the notes to the financial statements. How do the capital or operating leasing arrangements impact the overall profitability and debt position of your company? Do not complete a ratio analysis. Instead, focus on the details in the notes and determine how well the company presented the information to an informed reader. What did the company provide about its leases in the notes and why is that information important? How does each company comply with the rules as provided in the FASB Codification?

G. Examine the statement of cash flows for your company. Where is the company generating cash? What investments did it make over the past fiscal year? Did the company have financing activities? How would you describe the overall cash position of your company? Again, use the notes to the financial statements (not ratio analysis) to support your findings. How does each company comply with the rules as provided in the FASB Codification?

H. Review your company’s liabilities to determine if it offers a pension plan or the notes to determine if provides postretirement benefits for its employees. Discuss the type of retirement plan the company provides and the overall impact of the plan on the financial statements. Would you want to work for that company based on the retirement plan it offers? How does each company comply with the rules as provided in the FASB Codification?

Project Requirements

Prepare a comparative paper using the companies your team members analyzed. The final submission of the assignment should:

1. Flow logically and appear to be written in one voice.
2. Include an introductory paragraph about the industry in which your companies compete.
3. Body of the paper consisting of a comparative analysis of all four Items for Analysis as they apply to your companies and are “proven” through the FASB Codification.
4. Parts 1 and 2 should be updated to incorporate feedback from your professor. Be sure to consider the professor’s feedback for the new items you are submitting for items E or F and G or H.
5. For the final submission include item E or F and item G or H so that you are analyzing four total items for each company.
6. The discussion for each item for each company should be approximately 250 words. For the final submission, it would be approximately 1,000 words per company for items A/B, C/D, E/F, and G/H. With the industry overview and conclusion, a paper with four students would approximate 4,000-5,000 words.