Tuesday, November 18

Financial statement notes, supplementary information and management’s discussion and analysis

Financial statement notes
· Financial footnote is required by GAAP or SEC
· Allow users to improve assessment of the amount, timing & uncertainties of the estimates reported in financial statements
· Audited
· Additional information often relating to contingent loss.

Included in the footnotes are the following:
A summary of significant accounting policies such as:
· The revenues-recognition method used
· Depreciation methods and rates
· Balance sheet and income statement breakdown of items such as:

  • Marketable securities
  • Significant customers (percentage of customers that represent a significant portion of revenues)
  • Sales per regions
  • Inventory
  • Fixed assets and Liabilities (including depreciation, inventory, accounts receivable, income taxes, credit facility and long-term debt, pension liabilities or assets, contingent losses (lawsuits), hedging policy, stock option plans and capital structure).

Supplementary information
· Not audited
· Contain additional information, for example:

  • operating income or sales by region or business segment
  • reserve for an oil and gas company
  • information about hedging activities and financial instruments

Management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A)
· required by SEC
· provide assessement of financial performance & condition of a firm
· require to discuss:

  • result of operation-sales & expense trend
  • capital resoruces & liquidity-cash flow trend
  • general business overview based on known trends

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