Functions And Primary Focus Of Financial Accounting Essay

If some research is undertaken that provides evidence that capital markets do not always behave in accordance with the Efficient Market Hypothesis, does this invalidate research that adopts an assumption that capital markets are efficient?

3. Using the cash flow indicator and investment valuation ratios, discuss which company is more likely to have satisfied stockholders.

3. Was the firm able to generate enough cash from operations to pay for all of its capital expenditures?

DQ4: What are some of the things that may limit the usefulness of financial statement analysis? Identify a ratio and explain how one or more of the limiting factors can affect the usefulness of that ratio.

The statement of cash flows answers the following questions about cash: (a) Where did the cash come from during the period? (b) What

While net cash is critical to determine the ability of the organization to meet its immediate requirements, the non-cash factors that are included in the net income calculation portray a more accurate view of the long-term profitability. Also because of the timing differences between when revenue and expenses are recognized, the accrual method behind the net income model will produce visibility that is more accurate. For example, a month that produces low volume of sales and a high volume of receivable could produce a positive cash flow when in reality that low sales volume will negatively affect the subsequent months. This variance would be visible in the net income but would not be visible in net cash.

 Financial accounting is an information-processing system that generates general-purpose reports of financial operations (income statement and statement of cash flows) and financial position (balance sheet) for an organization. It is used by decision makers inside and outside the firm, such as security investors, analysts, and lenders. Adding to this external orientation are external financial reporting requirements determined by law and generally accepted accounting principles.

Assess the degree to which the firm’s accounting reflects the underlying business reality. Identify accounting distortions and evaluate their impact on profits and the sustainability of profits.

The accounting system we use today started in Venice in renaissance period over 520 years ago. The trade business increased hugely during this time and all the financial recordings had to be written down to help people see how their business is doing. During that time in 1494 the first book about was published in accounting by Luca Paciolli and was called “The Collected Knowledge of Arithmetic, Geometry, Proportion and Proportionality”. He was called “The father of Accounting” and most of his described principles have been used up until this day.

Financial management is important to the organization because it provides pertinent finance and accounting information to help managers accomplish the purpose of the organization. Financial accounting provides accounting information to external users. On the other hand, managerial accounting is more for managers (internal users) to use for things like planning, budgeting, etc. The definition of finance has changed over the years, but it’s used to ultimately evaluate previous decisions and make assessments for future decisions of the organization.

The main purpose of financial accounting is to prepare financial reports that provide information about a firm’s performance to external parties such as investors, creditors, and tax authorities. Must be performed according to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) guidelines.

Stakeholders include but are not limited to employees, investors, and lenders. Therefore, to have a well-informed and well-rounded opinion, it helps to have accurate and up to date financial statements and ratio distribution of the company’s revenue. With the statements, it not only shows the current position of the company but gives insight to determine the best decisions in the running of the company. In regards to lenders, financial statements are the antithesis of the lending criteria used to calculate any monies the company may or may not receive. This calculation is important in estimating the average amount of money that they can lend the organization, and the amount can be paid after a certain period taking into account the rate of interests (Cummings & Worley, 2009).

In addition to both short and long term solvency, a company’s return on invested capital should be analyzed when determining its financial health. Ford’s

Corporations are often the victims of the most common white-collar crimes that occur in corporate America. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (cfenet.com), “abuse and fraud by employees cost U.S. organizations more than $400 billion annually…[which equals] $9 per employee per day.”

Financial Statements basically show the historical performance or record of the company at some previous point of time. By the time when financial statements are made public, changes are many economical areas such as market conditions, currency exchange rate and inflations can change the values of assets and liabilities. In this case there often exist discrepancies between book value of assets and their market values.