Select a publicly traded U.S. corporation you would like to study this semester. I will demonstrate by providing a thread with my selected company. Additionally, I provided a list of suggested companies that will meet our needs.

Your corporation must:
> be traded on the US open stock market

> not be a service, bank or finance corporation
> have an Accounts Receivable

> have an Inventory for resale

> must have at least 4 years of SEC 10-K reports filed in Edgar

Your corporation may NOT:
> be the same corporation you used for projects in any other class
> be the same corporation a classmate selected (this means first come first serve)
Requirements:
>> Students must “Start a New Thread” to provide their company’s information. The subject line of that new thread must contain, “Company Name – by Student Name.” Where it says company name: that is the name of the company that the student is selecting. Where it says student name: that is the student’s name who is posting the new thread. Enter the required information into the text entry box, no attachments will be accepted.

> Provide page numbers for all four required financial statements for the most recent year: (This information with be found in Item 8 of the SEC 10-K report.)
>> Income Statement

>> Balance Sheet

>> Statement of Stockholders’ Equity

>> Statement of Cash Flows

> Identify that there are in fact at least four years of EC 10-K reports filed with the SEC.

> Provide the date that the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm signed the SEC 10-K report.

> See APA requirements at the end of this page. Provide direct links to your corporation’s SEC 10K report used within the sources consulted. A direct link is a hyper link that takes you directly to these SEC 10K report. If your company only presents their financial reports using an “active” link (this means that the financial reports are not presented in the SEC 10-K annual report itself) then you must provide that url as well.

See my example demonstration thread.

Mandatory SEC EDGAR system search:

Students must present the SEC Edgar url (in the APA source consulted) that will provide the most recent annual report for their selected company at the time that they make their selection. This url must be presented in their APA source consulted. Only the SEC Edgar url may be used for this project. No other sources outside of our classroom & textbook may be used.

> Finding a company’s SEC 10K: The most direct route to finding the direct link is to use the SEC EDGAR System and search by Company name.
> The following link is a good place to start your search:
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html
> EDGAR url may be found by using the accounting tool box (see Course Resources – Module.)

>> Open Content > Course Resources > Accounting Toolbox. Then select the Research Methodologies and scroll down to the Use publicly available reports EDGAR.

>> Select the EDGAR hotlink.

>> Explore the EDGAR site for your own learning experience.

>> To find your company, select the Search for Company Filings. Then select the “Company or fund name, …” hot link.

>> Enter a company name and check the “Contains” box for the widest search and then the Find Companies box.

>> You are looking for the annual report (most recent) and this is the 10-K report. Select document and then the Form 10-k document (htmformat).

>> Be aware that as the year gets older (farther from the published report date) you may need to “view” the next 40 EDGAR reports to find the Form 10-K report.

>> Open it and download it so that you have it for future reference. This document is the actual filing by the company with the SEC.

>> The following is the exact url for the Boston Beer Company’s 2016 SEC 10-K filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/949870/000…

>> Note that even though the 2015 SEC 10-K was published on 2/18/2016 it is actually for the Fiscal Year 2015 which is the most current annual report for the Boston Beer Company.

>> Note that by copy & paste of this url into a new web browser I will be directed to the exact website needed.

>> That will be critical to help you earn full credit for ECA Part 1.

> Be extra vigilant. Once you locate the most recent SEC Form 10-K then open that form. Complete the following quick check to make sure that you have a good corporate for this project.This will ensure that you have all the SEC Form 10K report that contains all elements needed for your project. For some companies you may need a second url that contains just the finial statements. Check for the following:> The Balance Sheet – does it have:

>> Inventory (for resale not internal supplies such as office supplies)

>>Accounts Receivable

> The Income Statement – does it have:

>> Sales Revenue – generated from the sale of inventory. Check the financial notes later to determine if there is a break out of credit sales & cash sales. If not, then all sales will be considered to be credit sales.

>> Cost of Goods Sold

Once I review a student’s selection and the url provided, I will either approve or not approve their selection.