TEAM PROJECT SYLLABUS

ACCOUNTING 110

TEAM PROJECT SYLLABUS

I. PROJECT OVERVIEW

1. PURPOSE: The purpose of this team project will be to conduct a financial analysis of a U.S.

corporation whose stock is publicly traded through any U.S. stock exchange and the utilization of

spreadsheets. This analysis must be conducted with Excel spreadsheets and utilize various financial

statements and ratios. The ratios and financial analysis techniques will be discussed throughout this

course and are summarized in Chapter 13 (Porter/Norton text) and the Schoenebeck text.

2. SCOPE: The scope of the financial analysis must include three major financial statements – i.e.,

Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Statement of Cash Flows. The analytical perspective each

team should take – which must be clearly identified in your final report – must be that of a potential

equity investor (i.e., a stockholder). The analysis should be prepared and submitted as a formal

report, as more fully described below.

II. GETTING STARTED: TEAM & CORPORATION REGISTRATION

1. TEAM FORMATION: Teams must be composed of three students (no exceptions) and will be

determined through a self-selection process. Students who cannot identify a teammate by the deadline

date (i.e., February 14, 2002) must inform their Instructor who will randomly match such students to

form their teams. This random match will take place in class. You must be present to participate in

this random matching process. If you do not have a teammate by this date, you may be penalized

10 points off your Team Project score.

2. TEAM PROJECT SELECTION FORM: Once you have a team, you must select a publicly traded

corporation that your team will study. Please print the Team Project Selection Form from the AC110

Homepage so you have a working copy in front of you when you register your team and select your

corporation via the homepage.

NOTE: Read this Syllabus before completing the Work Plan in

order to fully understand the Team Project.

http://www.uic.edu/classes/actg/actg110/selection_form.html

ACCOUNTING 110 SPRING 2002

3. CORPORATIONS: Each team will select a corporation to analyze. On page 129 of the Schoenebeck

text are some possible suggestions. Any publicly traded U.S. Corporation is acceptable if 4 years of

financial statement data is available. (See IV. Collecting Financial Data below.) The link on our

homepage Web links will lead you to the NYSE, NASDAQ & AMEX exchanges of additional

companies if you so desire. Please list and select your top twenty choices numbered 1-20 and record

them on the Team Project Selection Form copy that you have printed from the homepage.

4. REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Before you register, you must identify and summarize on the

Team Project Selection Form the following: (a) names of each team member, (b) the last 4 digits of

their social security numbers, (c) telephone numbers, (d) email addresses, (e) times when each

member can be contacted, and (f) a list of the 20 corporations. Enter this information on the

working copy of the Team Project Selection Form. Selections can only be made by registration

through the home page under the Team Project Selection Form link. Only One Team can analyze a

given corporation [e.g., Intel].

5. RECEIPT: A confirming receipt of this information will be sent to you by return e-mail. It will

include your Assigned Team Number along with your full names. SAVE THAT NUMBER! It

must be used in all future communications to your instructor. Print out a hard copy of the

confirming e-mail and save it.

6. Once your team has been formed, your team will be entered on the AC 110 Blackboard site. This

will enable your team to: send group email, use a group discussion board, use group chat and upload

files for sharing/exchanging. It is important you remember your team #.

III. FORMAL WORKPLAN (5 POINTS): February 19, 2002

1. WHAT IS A WORK PLAN? A formal Work Plan – which is a common project management tool

used in the business world – must be prepared and submitted. The Work Plan has already been

structured for you. It can be found on the home page (under the Work Plan link). The Work Plan is

an Excel file and should be printed in landscape format. It must be printed out, reviewed by all team

members, completed and submitted in class on the due date.

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http://www.uic.edu/classes/actg/actg110/selection_form.html

http://www.uic.edu/classes/actg/actg110/WebLinks.htm


2. CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT: This Work Plan is a contract between you, your partners and

your Instructor. It must be taken very seriously. There may be deduction of points based on your

non-performance on the project. Be sure to complete this form together as a Team. Each Team

member must sign the Work Plan and acknowledge its contractual terms. A printed version from

Excel must be submitted in class. The completion may be hand written. Each member must keep his

or her own-signed copy.

IV. COLLECTING FINANCIAL DATA

1. Financial Statement Data: Your team must collect the most recent four years worth of

published financial data. You may access financial statement data via the Internet. The web

address is http://finance.yahoo.com/ (See instructions of how to obtain data below)

2. WHAT IF 4 YEARS OF FINANCIAL DATA IS NOT AVAILABLE? If you subsequently

have to change your corporation after 2/28, because you have not found four years of complete

financial data, your Team (and each Team mate) will be penalized 10 points. Therefore, as soon

as you get your Team Registration confirmed (via e-mail), verify that you can find the required

data. Your team must verify the existence of the 4 years worth financial statement data.

INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO OBTAIN FINANCIAL STATEMENT DATA

1. Go to http://finance.yahoo.com/2. Enter the ticker symbol for the corporation. (for example, type “C” for Citigroup)3. Click on the ticker symbol itself and the next screen will bring more informationabout the company.4. Click on PROFILE link on the same line as the name of the corporation5. On the left of the screen scroll down and find under the heading: MORE FROMMARKET GUIDE, click on PERFORMANCE.6. On the left-hand side scroll down until you find the link for the INCOMESTATEMENT, BALANCE SHEET, and CASH FLOW STATEMEMT, whichwill initially give you quarterly information.7. Once you have the quarterly information, go to the top of the page and click on thebutton next to “Quarterly” and switch to “Annual”, which is the information youneed.8. Select the printable button link at the top right hand side of the page.9. Print out the financial statement.10. Save this file with an appropriate filename, for example, company name IS,company name BS, company name SCF.11. That’s it you did it!

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http://finance.yahoo.com/


Now you may refer to the Team Project Syllabus for what to do next you have successfully got your data that is needed!

V. COMPANY WRITE-UP (25 POINTS): March 5, 2002

1. PURPOSES:

a) To utilize a variety of resources available to research a corporation.

b) To prepare a well-written paper describing your corporation.

2. REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPANY WRITE-UP REPORT and FORMAT:

A. Research and describe your company's primary business activities. In your report include a

brief historical summary, a list of competitors, your company's position within the industry, recent

developments within the company/industry, future goals [obtain this information from the

company website perhaps], and other items of significance to your corporation. (Each of the areas

should have a separate heading in your paper).

B. COLLECT REFERENCES: References should be included in an Appendix and listed through

an Appendix Table Of Contents. References must include:(no footnotes are needed)

a. Two Significant News Items From Business Periodicals. Examples of business periodicals

include The Wall Street Journal and other newspapers published daily as well as Forbes,

Fortune, Business Week and Inc.(Trade Journals can also be used) and Internet articles.

You may obtain this information by searching the library, their respective website or going to

Yahoo Finance section and putting in the ticker symbol (Also AOL Finance can be used). These

websites should provide links to recent information about the company.

Place copies of these articles in the Appendix; note the date and source of each on the

Appendix Table Of Contents page. Highlight significant information found in each article.

Incorporate this information into your report based on the requirements in A above.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/?u


b. Information from one Financial Services firm: These services provide a historical summary,

description of the primary business activities, recent developments, and select financial

information about publicly traded companies. The services include:

Value Line Investment Survey, published by Value Line, Inc.

Standard and Poor's Stock Reports or Corporation Records, published by S&P, Inc.

Moody's Industrial Manual published by Moody's Investor Service, Inc.

Hoovers.com

Place information from the service firm in the Appendix; reference the date and source on the

Appendix Table Of Contents page. Highlight significant information you found from the

source. Incorporate this information into your report based on the requirements in A above.

Sources: The university library has some of these sources but not all. You may need to use

your local library. In addition, the Internet can be used but may require a fee.

3. FOUR YEARS OF COMPLETE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: Copies of the three financial

statements with 4 or 5 years of data should be printed from the source mentioned above and added to

the Appendix. The Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows must be included.

4. FORMAT: The Company Write-Up report should be well written with introductory and appropriate

headings as stated from above. A maximum of two typed single-spaced pages with a maximum of

12 point type and 0.50 inch margins for right and left sides is the limit. The two-page maximum

does not include the Appendix. An Appendix page (with a Table of Contents) listing the sources that

were used is required. The Company Write-Up report does not need to be footnoted.

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VI. FINANCIAL STATEMENT INFORMATION (30 POINTS): April 4, 2002

1. SCOPE: Prepare the following: (a) Condensed Multi-step Income Statement, (b) Multi-step Income

Statement trend analysis, (c) Multi-step Income Statement common sized, (d) Condensed Classified

Balance Sheet, (e) Classified Balance Sheet trend analysis, (f) Classified Balance Sheet common

sized, (g) Condensed Statement of Cash Flows and (h) Ratio Analysis Worksheet.

2. FORMS: You must use the form provided online from the AC110 Homepage link. Please print all

the sheets in the Excel workbook so you each have a working copy. To complete these forms, use the

data you obtained with the first part of the project.

COMPLETING THE FORMS: For the second part of the project open up the saved financial statements on disk. Copy and paste them into the excel templates set up for you on the excel file from the class homepage. The tabs are clearly labeled on the excel templates in the lower left-hand corner.

IMPORTANT

3. Since this data is in a tabular format it needs to be converted so it will work with excel. For every

number in each of the financial statements you will need to go to that cell and remove the space

before and after the number you see in the cell. Click on the cell and the number will be inserted into a

box on the top of the page. Then use the delete key to eliminate the space before and after each

number. If this is not done you will not be able to cell reference to complete this part of the project!

4. Wherever possible, a formula or cell reference must be used instead of manually copying a

number for the remaining spreadsheets. You will have to combine or condense data from these

files to complete the forms. Condensed means some accounts are grouped into one summarized total,

but no numbers are left out of the computations. Finally, each financial statement should total

properly. Each spreadsheet from these files is what needs to be printed and handed in.

5. SPREADSHEET CALCULATIONS: The condensed Trend and Common Sized financial statements

(i.e., Income Statement and Balance Sheets) should contain no manually input numbers. They must

be calculated using only cell reference formulas or cell reference computation formulas that

“link” data from other spreadsheets within the file. The Ratio Analysis spreadsheet should also

include the same references, although a couple of numbers may need to be manually input. If a

number is used from another financial statement stored in an Excel spreadsheet, it can and should be

referenced.

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6. The Condensed Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Statement of Cash Flows should also be

referenced and not manually input since you already have this information in an Excel file.

7. CELL FORMULAS: You must print out and hand in the cell formulas behind the numbers for all

Schoenebeck pages. This can be done by choosing the Tools tab (on the top toolbar), and then select

Options, then under View tab check Formulas. You should be able to print each page of formulas from

the Schoenebeck forms on a single page if possible.

8. WHAT SHOULD BE SUBMITTED? Include copies of the information from all of the Schoenbeck

Excel format pages. Copies should be sequenced and collated in the order specified on the excel

template. Copies of the three financial statements (i.e., I/S, B/S, and SCF) for all four/five years of

data you collected for the first part of the project will be needed to be turned in. You must print each

financial statement with 4/5 years of data on a single page if possible from your saved file of the

financial data. Please ensure the information presented is formatted and titled properly with company

name, name of statement, etc. Place it in the order requested on the excel template.

9. REPORT STRUCTURE: Include a cover page with your Team Number, each Teammates’ name,

last 4 digits of their social security numbers, corporation name and Instructor’s name. Place copies of

the material used in the Appendix (industry average information and Price History data). Highlight

significant information used in appendix.

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HOW TO CELL REFERENCE FROM A DIFFERENT WORKSHEET IN EXCEL

The easiest approach is as follows: The formulas for the ratios should use cell reference numbers from

the appropriate worksheet. In the cell you want the reference, type an equal sign ( = ), then go back to the

sheet you want to transfer data from (what is called a “cell reference”), click on that cell, than hit Enter.

Excel will automatically create the cell reference back on the original sheet where you wanted it and

transfer the data.

The more complex approach: The formulas for the ratios should use cell reference numbers from the

appropriate worksheet. To accomplish this task in the cell you want to place a cell reference from another

sheet you have to enter:

= 'sheet name'! cell reference #

To explain it another way, type an "equal sign", then type single apostrophe, then type sheet name, then

type single apostrophe, then type an "exclamation mark" and then type the cell reference number of the

number you are looking to copy to the new worksheet.

For example, the current ratio is Current Assets / Current Liabilities. In the cell you wanted to calculate

this ratio you would type: = 'sheet name'! Cell number where the current asset is located / 'sheet name'!

Cell number where the current liability is located.

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Single apostrophes must be used!


MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FINANCIAL INFORMATION

1. If your Income Statement information is presented in a single-step format, you will need to

reconfigure the line items and convert to a multi-step income statement format. (If you need help,

please just ask. For example, if your corporation is a service business, you may not have Cost of

Goods Sold/also called Cost of Revenue).

2. Be careful, the data from Yahoo is sometimes grouped strangely and is duplicated. For our

purposes, Cost of Goods Sold should not be part of Operating Expenses category when

condensing. Interest Expense and Interest Revenue should be part of the “Other” category

section when condensing. Other Revenue if not material (less than 5% of regular revenues)

should be part of the “Other” category section when condensing. Your Net Income should still

equal what the Net Income is from the Yahoo financial data on the Condensed Income Statement.

For the Balance Sheet, you do not need to use the Total Debt Line Subtotal when you condense.

It is a combination of short term debt and long-term debt. Your Balance Sheet should equal the

Total Assets, Total Liabilities and Total Stockholders’ Equity from your Yahoo data.

3. Special Non-Recurring Items: This refers to Discontinued Operations, Extraordinary Items and

Change in Accounting Principles. For most corporations you are studying this amount will be zero

because these types of events do not happen very often. If you do not see this category on your

Income Statement, you can assume it is zero.

4. Use Basic/Primary Earning Per Share excluding Extra. Items for the Income Statement.

5. Contributed Capital is Preferred Stock, if any, Common Stock, and Additional Paid-In Capital only.

COLLECT COMPARATIVE DATA FOR RATIO ANALYSIS: Obtain industry averages online –

use YAHOO.COM financial information section – for commonly used ratios. Industry average information

is reported using SIC codes. Record the industry averages for your company in the last column of the

Ratio Analysis Worksheet. To obtain Industry average information follow the instructions below.

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GETTING INDUSTRY AVERAGE INFORMATION FROM YAHOO.COM:

Put in your company's ticker symbol then select Go.

a. Once your company is shown, select Profile from the top of the page.

b. Once the profile is shown, scroll down page on the left, and near the bottom you will see a link for

Ratio Comparisons, then click on it. Use the 5-year average if available or the TTM number if

the 5-year average is not available for the average industry data.

MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RATIO ANALYSIS WORKSHEET

1. An average balance can be calculated by using the following formula:

(ending balance of last year + the ending balance of this year)/2

2. Shares Outstanding can be found on the Balance Sheet information From Yahoo. Use total

common shares outstanding.

3. Preferred Dividends if any, can be found on the Income Statement data from Yahoo.

4. Dividends Per Share common can be found on the Income Statement data from Yahoo

under Dividends per Share-Common Stock Primary Issue.

5. Earnings Per Share needs only to be cell referenced from your Condensed Income Statement

or Yahoo data.

6. Price Earning Ratio = Market Price of Stock on Fiscal Year End / Primary (basic) Earnings Per Share.

7. The Market Price of the stock must be found at the end of the each fiscal year end for your company. Use links on the

homepage for, YAHOO.COM. Include a printout of the Market Price data information in the appendix. (See below

how to obtain market price data.) If you are a Service business, some of the ratios may not apply – e.g.,

Inventory Turnover.

8. Assume all sales are on credit so you can calculate the Accounts Receivable Turnover ratio.

9. If you have industry data for Accounts Receivable Turnover Ratio, you can convert that to get an

Industry ratio for Days Sales' in Receivables.

(360 Days/ Accounts Receivable Turnover = Days Sales' in Rec.)

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10. Using industry data "Net Worth" is the same as "Stockholders' Equity"

11. All the Industry Average ratios except for Earnings Per Share and Book Value Per Share can be

found! Many times the ratios are just named differently. For example, Return on Sales is the

same as Net Profit Margin. Another example is Times Interest Earned is same as Interest

Coverage Ratio.

12. The Debt Ratio calculated should be Total Debt/Equity.

PRICE HISTORY DATA

a. Go to Yahoo Finance

b. Type in your company's ticker symbol.

c. Find the “chart option” under More Info near top of page and click on it.

d. Scroll down page and find "historical quote" option near bottom of page and click on it.

e. Place in the fiscal year end balance sheet date for the year wanted. Click and get Market Price from that day. You may have to repeat this for each year of data needed.

VII. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS REPORT (40 POINTS): April 23, 2002

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1. OVERVIEW: The purpose of this section will be to conduct a financial analysis of your corporation

based on the information you have completed in the last part of the project. This analysis should use

the three major financial statements – i.e., Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash

Flows – and employ various ratios as used throughout the course.

2. TASK: Prepare a well-written analysis of the financial information using appropriate

business/accounting vocabulary. Discuss significant amounts, trends, and relationships. When

appropriate, reference amounts from the common-sized statements and trend analyses (numbers in a

relational format are always better than using raw absolute numbers). In addition, your paper

should include comments on the three years of ratio information and the comparison of industry

averages. The report should not just state numbers and ratios; you should interpret what the

numbers mean (good trend /bad trend, improving/deteriorating). Do not write just to fill the

pages but as a means to communicate, meaningful pieces of information that helps you state your case

about your company’s financial performance.

3. ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVE: The analytical perspective, which must be clearly identified in

your report, must be that of a potential equity investor (i.e., a stockholder). That is, your analysis

and report should address the questions of “should I buy more stock?” or “should I sell?” the stock.

Your decision should be based solely on the four years of financial information you have gathered and

summarized in the excel format. The analysis should be prepared and submitted as a formal report, as

more fully described below. Support your answer with a comprehensive explanation incorporating

sound reasoning. Your report should be well written with a concluding paragraph. Assume the reader

of your report has limited knowledge of accounting information. Be selective, be concise and be sure

you make a recommendation.

4. GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION: The report must incorporate visual information (graphs,

charts, figures, etc). The concept is that when you analyze financial data, write about a finding or

draw a conclusion, the graphic information would assist the reader’s understanding. You should

illustrate key financial information that is essential to your final conclusion (buy more stock or

sell) regarding the stock. Remember, you have collected a large amount of financial data, prepared

condensed statements and calculated many ratios. The key is selecting and focusing upon the

numbers that “make a difference.” You have a limited amount of space to “make your case.” We

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expect to see 6 graphs integrated within the report(two for the Income Statement section, two

for the Balance Sheet Section, one for the Statement of Cash Flows Section, and one for the

Significant other section). Meaningful information should be integrated throughout the 6-page

report. Please resize the graphs so they’re readable, but yet don’t take up so much space that there

is no room to write on the page. Line graphs may be more meaningful to highlight trends than

bar graphs.

5. HOW TO BEGIN: If you are not sure how to analyze an item or what to say, you can always

refer back to the Schoenebeck Activities. This text very simply and straightforwardly explains

how to analyze the information. Answers can be found on the class homepage.

6. REPORT FORMAT: It may not be longer than six (6) single-spaced typewritten pages using a

maximum of 12 point type and .5 inch margins for the right and left side. In Excel, you can make

the graphs and cut and paste them into Microsoft Word. Please ensure that all information is

readable. It might be best to use “Text Boxes” for the written words using the Insert tab in Word.

Look for and use the Tutorials on the homepage if needed. You must also include in the

Appendix a reprint of the Excel-formatted Schoenebeck pages (Formula sheets are not

needed) that you completed from the second part of the project.

7. WHAT SHOULD THE REPORT ANALYZE?

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INCOME STATEMENT ANALYSIS SECTION: In this section you should include information

and analysis on the following trends from your Trend Income Statement and Common Size

Income Statement:

(a) Analyze the Trend of Revenues & Cost of Goods Sold. Using the common size income statement

analyze the composition of cost of goods sold to revenues and has the composition changed much

over the four years.

(b) Analyze the Trend of Gross Profit. Using the common size income statement analyze the

composition of gross profit to revenues and has the composition changed much over the four years.

(c) Analyze the Trend of Operating Expenses. Using the common size income statement analyze the

composition operating expenses to revenues and has the composition changed much over the four

years.

(d) Analyze the Trend of income from operations. Using the common size income statement analyze

the composition of income from operations to revenues and has the composition changed much over

the four years.

(e) Analyze the Trend of Net Income. Using the common size income statement analyze the

composition of net income to revenues and has the composition changed much over the four years..

(f) Analyze in this section your profitability ratios: Return on Sales, Return on Assets, Return on

Stockholders' Equity.

Finally, don't forget to integrate your Income Statement industry comparisons.

Be sure to not just state numbers but to tell your story about how this company is performing

and the meaning of the information.

BALANCE SHEET ANALYSIS SECTION: In this section you should include information and

analysis of the following trends from the Trend Balance Sheet & Common Size Balance Sheet: 14

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(a) Analyze the Trend of Total Assets. Using the common size balance sheet examine what are the

major categories of Assets used to operate the business and has that composition changed much over

the four years.

(b) Analyze the Trend of Total Liabilities. Using the common size balance sheet analyze the

composition of Total Liabilities compared to Total Assets and has that composition changed much

over the four years, in addition, has composition changed between short term and long term.

(c) Analyze the Trend of Contributed Capital. Using the common size balance sheet analyze the

composition of Contributed Capital to Total Assets and has that composition changed much over the

four years.

(d) Analyze the Trend in Retained Earnings. Using the common size balance sheet analyze the

composition of Retained Earnings to Total Assets and has that composition changed much over the

four years.

(e) Analyze and interpret your balance sheet ratios: Current Ratio, Acid-Test Ratio, and Debt Ratio.

Finally, don't forget to include industry comparisons.

Finally, don't forget to integrate your Balance Sheet industry comparisons.



STATEMENT OF CASH FLOW ANALYSIS SECTION: In this section you should include

information and analysis on the trend of:

(a) Total operating activities.

(b) Investing activities.

(c) Financing activities.

(d) Specifically analyze and mention if operating cash flows are significant enough to cover investing

activities cash outflows and if not where did the money come from.

(e) Find these following ratios in Chapter 13 of Porter/Norton. Calculate them for the three years

needed and add them to your analysis in this section: Cash Operating Cycle, Debt Service Coverage

Ratio and Cash Flow from Operations to Capital Expenditures Ratio.



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SIGNIFICANT OTHER ITEMS SECTION: In this section you should include an analysis of your

ratios not previously mentioned in the other sections such as:

(a) Inventory Turnover

(b) Days Sales in Receivables

(c) Times-Interest-Earned

(d) Price/Earnings

(e) Dividend Yield

(f) Anything else you feel is worth mentioning.

Be sure not to just only state numbers but to tell your story about how this company is performing.

CONCLUSION: Based on the information written and graphic that you have presented you should

make a final recommendation on whether to buy or sell this company's stock. You should support

your conclusion using sound reasoning based on the company's trend in profitability, solvency, cash

flows and ratio analysis.

The paper must have sections and headings titled as follows:

1. Income Statement Analysis

2. Balance Sheet Analysis

3. Statement of Cash Flows Analysis

4. Significant Other Items -for items that does not fit into those other categories.

5. Conclusion

6. APPENDIX

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK &

EFFORT!

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