General Mills Essay

General Mills is a profit company. They are responsible for Cheerios , Pillsbury , Betty Crocker , and Haagen-Dazs , just to name a few. General Mills has been in business since 1928. The company has over millions of dollars. The URL for the website is www.generalmills.com.

Scoping and Evaluation Judgments in the Audit of Internal Control over Financial Reporting 12.1 EyeMax Corporation . . Evaluation of Audit Differences

(Roy, Matthew) The small companies hold a very small part of the market; approximately 13.6%. (Roy, Matthew)The four larger companies hold the other 86.4% of the market. (Roy, Matthew) These four big cereal manufacturers are Kellogg, General Mills, Post, and Quaker Oats. “Great Barriers to entry and the inelastic nature of cereal allow this oligopoly to exist and numerous government attempts to end it have failed.” (Roy, Matthew) Due to the oligopolistic nature of the industry companies are able to turn large profits as well. (Roy, Matthew)

The qualified opinion report is similar in arrangement to the unqualified report with an additional paragraph dictating the reason the audit report is not unqualified. The third report although rare is an adverse opinion. An adverse opinion report is required when in the auditor’s opinion the financial statements as a whole do not conform to GAAP and are grossly misrepresented. The fourth and final report is a disclaimer of opinion. A disclaimer report is issued when the auditor is unable to gather sufficient information pertaining to the financial reports that an opinion cannot be determined. The auditor’s report has a direct impact on a company’s ability to obtain financing from a bank as the report lowers the cost of capital. The audit report also provides commercial value, meaning it’s an assurance the financial data is true and correct. The independent auditor for Verizon indicates an unqualified opinion in that Verizon’s

As a CEO or a member of the management team it is important to have a very clear understanding of all the financial documents that are available to them. It is not only their duty but their responsibility to know these documents and finances extremely well because

Furthermore, when the internal control is fixed, the outside auditor can rely on the clients system and less audit testing can be conducted. When everything is improved, the management letter is given to the organization’s top management and not disclosed to the public, (Finkler, S. A., Ward, D. M., & Calabrese, T. D., 2013). Next, is the auditor’s report that entails the opinion letter usually written in three paragraphs and given to the board of trustees. Then, the opinion paragraph is added on to state the organizations financial statements are in accordance of the financial position and followed through with (GAAP). The clean opinion addresses the opinion of the auditor and the overall exercising of professionalism. Also, the complete opinion of the financial statements is to give a representation of the organization. All other opinions may be included and can be addressed by adverse opinions if (GAAP) was not in accordance. A qualified opinion can be added if a specific area wasn’t included in the financial statement when needed. Finally, the management reports are conducted by the management team and not the auditors. The management report is the annual report the topics included in the report are the internal control system and the responsibility of the audit committee.

| |financial statements related to cash and cash equivalents, receivables, and inventories. | | |

b. What financial statements are commonly prepared for external reporting purposes? What titles does General Mills give these

The food processing industry is practically controlled by General Mills, Inc. and their financial success. General Mills, Inc. currently has a Market Capitalization of $33.84 billion, which accounts for roughly 57.83% of the entire industry. Much of General Mills, Inc. financial success comes from their diverse portfolio of leading consumer brands that they both produce and market. Through their business conduction, General Mills, Inc. generates almost $18 billion in yearly revenue, which is comprised of both domestic and international business. The United States accounts for around sixty-percent of their sales, while the remaining comes from their global

b.) The financial statements that are commonly prepared for external reporting purposes are the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Statement of Cash Flows. General Mills gives these statements a title of Consolidated Statements of Earnings, Consolidated Balance Sheets and Consolidated statements of Cash Flows. Consolidated means that General Mills is factoring in all of its subsidiaries into its aggregated accounting figures that are represented on these statements.

Food Inc. opens in an American supermarket and draws attention to the unnatural nature of year-round tomatoes and boneless meat. It pulls aside the curtain that is concealing the truth about food from the consumer. After the brief intro, the movie shifts its focus to the topic of fast food and its impact on the meat industries. Fast food virtually started with McDonald’s. When they decided to simplify their menu and hire employees that repeated one task over and over for minimum wage, the result was the fast food phenomenon that swept the United States, and then the world. Today, McDonald’s is the largest purchaser of beef and potatoes in the United States, and is one of the largest purchasers of pork, chicken, tomatoes, and apples. Though

General Mills (NYSE:GIS), our company, is a global consumer foods company. We develop distinctive value-added food products and market with our unique brand names. We work continuously to improve our established products and to create new products that meet our customers’ potential needs and preferences. Our company has $14.88 billion in sales last year. Our sales has grown substantially throughout the years due in large part to our popular brand names, this however is only part of the reason that we has been so successful. We markets global brands such as Green Giant, Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, Yoplait, Cheerios, Betty

The auditors also report that they have evaluated the internal controls system of the company and according to them there is no material weakness in its system and hence they give an unqualified opinion.

From ready-to-eat cereal to convenient meals to wholesome snacks, General Mills is one of the biggest food products manufacturers and competes in growing food categories that are on-trend with consumer tastes around the world. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Haagen Daazs, Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Totinos, and Cheerios, among others. Main rivals include Kellogg, Kraft, Conagra Foods, and Sara Lee. General Mills sells its products in three segments: U.S. retail (63% of net sales), International (25% of net sales), and Bakeries and Foodservices (12% of net sales). In addition, General Mills sells cereals and ice cream through its Cereal Partners Worldwide and Haagen Daazs Japan

The case study General Mills Inc. - Understanding Financial Statements focuses on the most basic idea of finance analysis. This case is a brief look into the language that is used in the finance world and a start to interaction with auditors. In this case, KPMG LLP, the public accounting firm that was auditing their statements, had sent two opinion letters. The first letter was ensuring that both parties were aware that General Mills had internal control over financial reporting. The second opinion letter stated that to auditor’s knowledge, General Mills had correctly reported its financial statements. The statements given in this case study are known as the four general financial statements. Displayed in the case are the