The following books can serve as supplemental material to your course materials to further explain financial statement analyses.
When looking at the financial numbers for a company and its competitors, it is often helpful to identify sources that help explain why a ratio or items in the financial statements have changed over a period of time or why one company is performing better than the other. Below are some suggestions for resources that can be used to help provide justification for your analysis.
IBISWorld is a database of industry reports. When conducting a financial analysis, it is useful to understand how the company is performing in relation to the industry. An industry report will provide the following:
Handout on how to search IBISWorld: Training Document
Business Source Complete is a database that contains a wealth of information. For the purposes of a company financial analysis, Business Source Complete provides SWOT analysis and company profiles for many companies. You can also locate trade publications, magazine articles and newspaper articles related to your company. You typically won't incorporate scholarly articles in a financial analysis because the information is not always current enough to address what is currently happening within your company.
Tutorials: How to locate a SWOT Analysis How to locate articles in Business Source Complete
Section 7 of a publicly traded company's annual report or 10-K contains the Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation (MDA). It provides the leadership of the company the opportunity to explain the financial numbers and discuss trends that have either impacted the company during the reporting year or may impact the company in the future.
To locate a company's annual report: