Segment Reporting And Information Disclosure

In accounting there is much to be learned, about the financial aspects of a business. In the past five weeks I have learned the importance of financial reports and how they relate to the success of an establishment. These reports may include balance sheets and income statements, which help accountants and the public grasp the overall financial condition of a company. The information in these reports is really significant to, managers, owners, employees, and investors. Managers of a business can take and deduce financial

Operating Segments: Improving Disclosure From the Bottom Up. (2011, November). Retrieved January 30, 2013, from PWC: http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/audit-services/publications/corporate-reporting/investor-view/operating-segments-improving-disclosure-from-bottom-up.jhtml

SUMMARY OF STUDY OBJECTIVES 1Identify the sections of a classified balance sheet. In a classified balance sheet, companies classify assets as current assets; long-term investments; property, plant, and equipment; and intangibles. They classify liabilities as either current or long-term. A stockholders' equity section shows common stock and retained earnings. 2Identify and compute ratios for analyzing a company's profitability. Profitability ratios, such as earnings per share (EPS), measure aspects of the operating success of a company for a given period of time. 3Explain the relationship between a retained earnings statement

The standard statements focus on accounting income for the entire corporation, not cash flows, and the two can be quite different during any given accounting period. However, for valuation purposes we need to discount cash flows, not accounting income. Moreover, since many firms have a number of separate divisions, and since division managers should be compensated on their divisions' performance, not that of the entire firm, information that focuses on the divisions is needed. These factors have led to the development of information that

financial statements” (Waxman, 2013, p. xiii). It is the purpose of this paper to discuss some of

Entity-wide disclosures are required under Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 280-10-50-40 through 280-10-50-42. The disclosures are required because every corporation does not report information in a similar fashion, and the disclosures would provide comparability of the financial statements among entities. For example, if a corporation uses a geographic approach in its financial statements, disclosing certain information about the products or services sold will make comparability to other companies much easier. The disclosures will also help with comparability within an entity if they decide to choose another method of reporting operating segments in the future. There are three types of entity-wide disclosures; products and services, geographic areas, and/or major customers. Every public company has to comply with the disclosures, even if the company has one reportable segment. The only exception to the entity-wide disclosures is if it is impractical to provide the information, such as it would be extremely costly to the corporation, or if the “internal reporting systems are not capable of gathering financial information by product or service by geographic area.” A disclosure should be made when entity-wide disclosures are impractical.

Among the tools required for every business to survive and thrive, the ability to maintain a regular self-examination holds an indispensable place. The size of the business in question is almost of no consequence, only the potential complexity of the self-examination changes. A prime tool for such self-examinations is the family of related financial reporting that has become nearly universal in western businesses: the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows. This trio of reports enables management and owners to carefully examine the holdings and liabilities of their business so they may make

The most important thing to any company’s stakeholders is high-quality reporting of its financial statements. Investors, for instance, need to know the truth about a company in order to make an informed decision on whether to make private investment, buy stock or bonds. However, for stakeholders to get the truth about a company, they need to read and understand management’s discussion and analysis, the president’s letter, the notes, as well as the financial statements. Conversely, financial statements must be accompanied with disclosures to prevent them from misleading the stakeholders.

This report is written as a response to the monograph in which the ICAEW published on how financial accounting disclosures can be improved. The aim of this report is to critically discuss and evaluate the worthwhileness of the recommendations made from a financial investor’s perspective. It is done by reviewing recommendations put forward by the ICAEW and analysing if each of the disclosure recommended is worth the effort while putting in perspective what effects these recommendations have on professional investors who are one of the primary users and consumers of financial statements. The report contains information mainly from the ICAEW report and the CFA institute report

This paper will analyze these views as they apply to the discloser of segment information for public entities as required by topic 280 of the FASB accounting standards codification, and discussed in Statement of Financial Standards No. 131 (“SFAS 131). The paper is structured as follows: Section II provides an overview of the objective and general purpose of financial reporting and the qualitative characteristics off useful financial information as determined by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), section III introduces the concept of segment reporting and outlines the requirements for disclosures of segment information for public companies, section IV evaluates the relevance of

In terms of eliminating the two segments, the definition for segment reporting is accounting for a business’s individual divisions or separate lines of business. The purpose of segment reporting is to provide a transparent image of a business’s performance on each line of business for the benefit of shareholders: SFAS 131. This allows shareholders to make informed decisions and develop a substantiated risk assessment. SFAS 131. Given that the newly acquired business is separate from our existing business, we must consider our options to determine if we meet the requirements for eliminating the two segments in terms of financial reporting. Current Generally

According to WebFinance, Inc., the definition of disclosure, in relation to accounting practices, regards “Statutory or good faith revelation of a material fact (or an item of information that is not generally known) on a financial statement or in the accompanying notes (footnotes)” (2015). Furthermore, as per the Financial Accounting Standards Board [FASB], “The purpose of the notes to financial statements is to supplement or further explain the information on the face of the financial statements by providing information relevant to existing and potential investors, lenders, and other creditors . . .” (2013, p. 1). Publicly traded companies fall under regulations that are set forth by governing authorities to assist in bringing concise information to external users. The Starbucks Corporation [SBUX] implements the disclosing of pertinent information in its annual report by expanding within the section named “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” (SBUX, 2014, p. 51). The company’s cash and its equivalents, receivables, and inventories are further explained according to data as provided by SBUX.

Nowadays, financial analysts look very negative toward companies that do not supply segmental information. Their bad evaluation of such companies entails a negative influence on the share values of those companies which on their turn forces the company to provide more information.

ICAEW made nine recommendations about financial reporting disclosures in 2013 to solve current disclosure overload problem. This report will mainly argue against recommendation four. Choosing this prospect because one of the objectives of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is to protect consumers from being taken advantage of by other informed participants in the capital market. Among all the suggestions, disclosing different reports for different users has the most significant influence on investors and capital market.

“A task force concluded, the past segmentation did not fully address the emerging shift in customer needs” “(Xiameter Case Study). Dow Corning had to thus try different segmentation variables, alone and in combination to find the best way to view the market structure. (Kotler et al, 2008).