Posted: January 25th, 2017

Calculate ratios for at least two years for each of the companies and discuss the changes that have occurred

Obtain published Annual Reports of companies that operate in the same industry in TWO of the following countries:- (i)     The United Kingdom(ii)   The United States of America(iii)  Germany(iv)  Japan(v)    France (a)          Compare and contrast the accounting policies of each of the companies and assess the impact of the differences in the accounting policies that would be significant when evaluating the performance and financial position of the two companies.(15 marks) (b)          Discuss the information that is included in the Annual Reports of the two companies. Areas that should be covered are the formats and the differences in the disclosures in each of the Annual Reports. Particular attention should be given to the voluntary reports that are usually attributed to the Chairman, the Chief Executive or the Financial Director. Consideration should also be given to how these voluntary reports help to evaluate performance.(15 marks) (c)           Calculate ratios for at least two years for each of the companies and discuss the changes that have occurred. All workings must be shown. It is important to consider the causes and effects of the changes and prepare a report that would be helpful to senior managers, who are not accountants. ( This is mine part)(50 marks) (d)          Do the companies provide any form of non-financial performance indicators?  Quantitative or qualitative?  Comment on the usefulness and transparency of the information. If the companies do not provide any non-financial performance indicators, for each company suggest three suitable indicators that could be monitored, clearly justifying your choice