Company Accounts: Analysis, Interpretation, Understanding Book

This book provides a throrough and analytical discussion of the nature and format of published company annual reports and accounts and a full introduction to the analysis and interpretation of financial statements. It takes notice of the effects and impacts of existing legislation and regulations and all published statements of standard accounting practice, thereby providing a relevant and up-to-date guide to this important area. The authors designed the book to be most useful for students on MBA or similar advance level courses in management and also to undergraduate students specializing in management and business studies who require the ability to comprehend and interpret company financial statements. In addition the book should prove extremely useful to anyone, whether they be investors, lenders, creditors or managers, who requires a clear understanding of the information contained in the annual report of a company and of the techniques needed to analyze the information and assess the underlying strengths, weaknesses and potential of the company. In part one, it provides a systematic description of the nature and role of company annual reports and accounts a detailed discussion of the impact of British legislation and regulation, and of professional practices and recommendations. In part two, it provides a detailed examination of the principal and subsidiary financial statements of a leading British company, and an explanation of how the information contained in these statements, together with other publicly available data, can be used to provide a structured approach to the interpretation and anlaysis of that company's performance. In addition, the final chapter of part two provides a discussion of the major research findings and practical applications concerning the use of ratio analysis in assessing the performance and financial position of a company and this chapter will be more particularly appropriate for MBA and other management students. The appendices include the complete text of the company's financial statement, together with a glossary of accounting terms and a glossary of ratios.Read More