Qualification On The Usefullness Of Financial Statements

Although financial statements provide information useful to decision-makers, there is much relevant information that they omit. Factors of market demand, technological developments, union activity, price of raw materials, human capital, tariffs, government regulation, subsidies, competitor actions, wars, acts of nature, etc. can have a dramatic effect on a company's prospects.

A critical assumption in the use of financial statements (aside from stewardship), is often made that the past will predict the future. For trends that have continued for many years this will usually be true, at least for the near future. Ratio analysis for a single company or within an industry using similar accounting methods will be the most fruitful way of using the data provided by financial statements.

Footnotes

There are generally two kinds of footnotes. The first type identifies and explains the major accounting policies of the business. The second type provides additional disclosure, such as details of long-term debts, stock option plans, details of pension plans, previous errors, lack of internal control and law suits in progress.

Although the footnotes are required, there are no standards for clarity or conciseness. Footnotes often seem intentionally legalistic and are awkwardly written [Tracy,1980].

Current Ratio - The Patriarch Ratio

Current ratio (the ratio of current assets to current liabilities) was perhaps the earliest ratio to gain widespread use as a measure of solvency. On the theory that $2 in current assets could safely cover $1 of current liabilities (with enough remaining to operate) a 2-to-1 value became an inflexible standard. But inventories can vary greatly in their liquidities. Oil, for example, can be rapidly liquidated, but inventories of service parts could take years to sell -- hardly "current assets". Also, small businesses can often liquidate their inventories more rapidly than large ones, indicating that current ratio may not be comparable for different size firms. Moreover, the relative investment in inventory rose from 77% of working capital to 83% of working capital between 1950 and 1962 for American corporations [Miller,1966]. Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory control using computers has dramatically decreased the amount of inventory held. Thus, indicators from the past might not be useful for the future. A 1-to-1 "acid-test" ratio which excluded inventory from current assets was a suggested replacement for current ratio, but the liquidity of the receivables portion of current assets is still open to question without information on collectability. In a strike or a recession, the business might have to pay its current liabilities by liquidating its current assets. Yet it is questionable if this could be done without a loss in operating capacity -- especially serious in a recession. In the case of an airline, cash flows are more a function of its current assets than of its non-current assets.

Types of Ratio Analysis

Careful financial statement analysis usually means the extraction of meaningful ratios from the statements. These ratios have been classified as measuring (1) liquidity (current ratio, acid-test ratio, etc.) (2) activity (receivables turnover, inventory turnover, etc.) (3) profitability (profit margin on sales, rate of return on assets, earnings per share, etc.) and (4) leverage (debt to total assets, times interest earned, etc.) [Kiesco and Weygandt,1982]. Ratios are often used to assess performance or as diagnostic tools to point up potential problem areas. Given the extremely varied entities for which financial statements are made -- and even the extreme variation between industries of an entity type -- the most productive use of these ratios is probably made either against industry standards or against ratios for previous years of the entity in question.

Characteristics of Entities Having Financial Statements

Non-profit organizations such as government and charities typically present statements which exhibit their resources and the way those resources are distributed or held. Stewardship and responsibility are the focus for these statements. Financial statements for private individuals focus on resources and obligations -- helping the person to assess his or her financial condition and to plan financial affairs (or obtain a bank loan) [Rosenfield, 1981]. Retailers are typically highly mortgaged, rely on credit to wholesalers (following a desire for a large and varied stock), often offer extensive credit to customers (or no credit, on a strictly cash basis) and reside in high-rent locations. Wholesalers tend to be characterized by large inventories, large sales volume (with small profit margin) and chronic credit problems with retailers. Manufacturers tend to have a substantial investment in fixed assets (machinery, equipment and buildings) and often face major problems due to a large work-force [Costales,1979]. Service industries -- such as railroads, airlines and public utilities -- have less of a problem with flow of inventory. Their focus tends to be on balancing operating revenue against operating expenses dominated by fixed assets (depreciation, repairs, replacement, maintenance, etc.). Companies with high proportions of current assets tend to be financed through short-term borrowing and shareowner investment. Industrial corporations tend to be financed primarily through shareowners, whereas public utilities and railroads are more often financed by long-term borrowing (bonds) [Holmes, et al,1970].

Comparability of Financial Statements

Comparison of financial statements forms the basis for much financial analysis. Four main types of comparison are made: (1) comparison of statements for the enterprise between successive years (2) comparison of a firm's statements with those of a specific competitor (3) comparison of a firm against an industry standard and (4) comparison with a target, such as a company's budget. Comparisons between different organizations may be difficult or even meaningless because of differences in (1) size of the organization (2) type of organization and (3) accounting methods used by the organization. Often, both the size and type of organization will dictate the kind of accounting methods used.

Kinds of Financial Statements

The balance sheet provides the user with data about available resources as well as the claims to those resources. The income statement provides the user with data about the profitability of the enterprise detailing sources of revenue and the expenses which reduce profit. The statement of changes of financial position shows the sources and uses of a firm's financial resources, demonstrating trends in the alteration of its capital structure. The statement of retained earnings reconciles the owners' equity section of successive balance sheets, showing what has happened to generated revenue.

Financial Statements: By Whom, For Whom?

Financial statements are summaries of monetary data about an enterprise. The most common financial statements include the balance sheet, the income statement, the statement of changes of financial position and the statement of retained earnings. These statements are used by management, labor, investors, creditors and government regulatory agencies, primarily. Financial statements may be drawn up for private individuals, non-profit organizations, retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and service industries. The nature of the enterprise involved dramatically affects the kind of data available in the financial statements. The purposes of the user dramatically affects the data he or she will seek.

Users of Financial Statements

Analysis of financial statements is linked with the objective and interest of the individual / agency involved. Some of the agencies interested include Management, investors, creditors, bankers, workers, Government, and public at large.

1. MANAGEMENT

Management is interested in the financial performance and financial condition of the enterprise. It would like to know about its viability as an on going concern, management of cash, debtors, inventory and fixed asset and adequacy of capital structure. Management would also be interested in the overall financial position and profitability of the enterprise as a whole and its various departments and divisions.

2. INVESTORS

An investor is interested in the profitability and safety of his investment and would like to know whether the business is profitable, has growth potential and is progressing on sound lines. The present investors want to decide whether they should hold the securities of the company or sell them. Potential investors, on the other hand, want to know whether they should invest in the shares of the company or not. Investors (Shareholders or owners) and potential investors, thus, make use of the financial statements to judge the present and future earning capacity of the business, to judge the operational efficiency of the business and to know the safety of investment and growth prospects.

3. BANKERS AND LENDERS

Bankers and lenders are interested in serving of their loans by the enterprise, i.e. regular payment of interest and repayment of principal amount on schedule dates. They also like to know the safety of their investment and reliability of returns.

4. SUPPLIERS/ CREDITORS

Creditors dealing with the enterprise are interested in receiving their payments as and when fall due and would like to know its ability to honor its short-term commitments.

5. EMPLOYEES

Employees interested in better emoluments, bonus and continuance of the business, would like to know its financial performance and profitability.

6. GOVERNMENT

Government and regulatory authorities would like to ensure that the financial statements prepared are as per the specified laws and rules, and are to safe guard the interest of various concerned agencies. e.g.: Taxation authorities would be interested in ensuring proper assessment of tax liability of the enterprise as per the laws.

7. STOCK EXCHANGE

Stock exchange uses the financial statements to analyze and thereafter, inform its members about the performance, financial health, etc. of the company, to see whether financial statements prepared are in conformity with the specified laws and rules and to see whether they safeguard the interest of various concerned agencies.
Other Regulatory authorities (such as, Company Law Board, SEBI, Stock Exchanges, Tax Authorities etc.) would like that the financial statements prepared are in conformity with the specified laws and rules, and are to safeguard the interest of various concerned agencies. For example, taxation authorities would be interested in ensuring proper assessment of tax liability of the enterprise as per the laws in force from time to time.

8. CUSTOMERS

Customers are interested to ascertain continuance of an enterprise. For example, an enterprise may be supplier of a particular type of consumer goods and in case it appears that the enterprise may not continue for a long time, the customer has to find an alternate source.

9. PUBLIC

Enterprises affect members of the public in a variety of ways. For example, enterprises may make a substantial contribution to the local economy in many ways including the number of people, they employ and their patronage of local suppliers. Financial statements may assist the public by providing information about trends and recent developments in the prosperity of the enterprise and the range of its activities.
Different agencies thus look at the enterprise from their respective viewpoint and are interested in knowing about its profitability and financial condition. In short a detailed cause and effect study of profitability and financial condition is the over all objective of financial statement analysis.