FIN 320 Final Project Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
This is the second milestone leading up to your final project. In Final Project Milestone One, you introduced the business you chose. You examined its financial statements and financial health and reported its financial values. In Final Project Milestone Two, you will make calculations based on the latest information found using Mergent Market Atlas about your company and compare the totals with those of one year ago. You will then use these figures to decide whether short-term financing is needed to improve your company’s financial health. Before moving forward, review your instructor’s feedback for Milestone One and incorporate any suggestions.
Scenario
The CFO of your company has asked for your support in preparing a report for the business’s board of directors. Many of the board members are new, and some of them have little background in finance. With this in mind, you will need to write a report that all board members can easily understand.
Directions
For the company you chose for your final project, open the following documents:
- The balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement from the latest fiscal quarter (from Mergent Market Atlas)
- The Ratios Most Recent Fiscal Qtr worksheet in the Final Project Financial Formulas workbook (linked in the What to Submit section).
- example, if the latest fiscal quarter available is the third quarter in 2023, you’ll compare those results to the same financial calculations from the third quarter in 2022.
Use the documents to calculate key financial ratios.
Then open the following documents:
- The balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement from the same fiscal quarter one year ago
- The Ratios Same Fiscal Qtr 1 Year Ago worksheet
Use the documents to calculate the same financial ratios. Finally, compare those ratios and analyze your results.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
- Financial Calculations. Calculate accurate financial formulas to assess the business’s current financial health. Specifically, calculate the following formulas using the Ratios Most Recent Fiscal Qtr and the Ratios Same Fiscal Qtr 1 Year Ago worksheets in the Final Project Financial Formulas workbook:
- Working capital
- Current ratio
- Debt ratio
- Earnings per share
- Price and earnings ratio
- Total asset turnover ratio
- Financial leverage
- Net profit margin
- Return on assets
- Return on equity
- Fiscal Quarter Comparison. Summarize the differences between the following:
- The results from your financial calculations of the most recent fiscal quarter
- The results of the same financial calculations of the same fiscal quarter from one year ago
- For example, if the most recent fiscal quarter available is the third quarter in 2023, you’ll compare those results to the same financial calculations from the third quarter in 2022.
- Comparison Analysis. Explain what your calculations and comparison show about the business’s current financial health. Give examples to support your explanation for the following questions:
- Do the results show the business is financially healthy or unhealthy? Which results indicate this?
- What might be the causes of the business’s financial success or failure?
- Is more information needed to determine the business’s financial health? If so, which pieces of information might still be needed?
- Short-Term Financing. Explain how potential short-term financing sources could help the business raise funds needed to improve its financial health. Base your response on the business’s current financial information.
What to Submit
Your submission should be a 2- to 3-page Word document (not including title and resource pages) with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Include the Balance Sheet and Income Statement from Mergent Market Atlas with your submission. All sources should be cited using APA style. You must also use the Final Project Financial Formulas workbook and submit the following worksheets:
- The Ratios Most Recent Fiscal Qtr worksheet from the Final Project Financial Formulas workbook
- The Ratios Same Fiscal Qtr1 Year Ago worksheet from the Final Project Financial Formulas workbook
Supporting Materials
The following resources can help you complete this milestone:
Video: Mergent Market Atlas: Public Company Financials (4:46)
Watch this video from the Shapiro Library to learn more about how to access and use Mergent Market Atlas. This video shows information on the As Reported Currency page within the Company Financials tab. For the purposes of this course, however, the best way to see financial data is to click Standardized beneath the Company Financials tab. This will allow you to access the Standardized Annual Balance Sheet.
Shapiro Library FAQ: How do I cite a company profile from Mergent Market Atlas in APA Style?
Use this resource to help answer any questions you have about citing from Mergent Market Atlas.
Final Project Milestone Two Rubric
CriteriaExceeds ExpectationsMeets ExpectationsPartially Meets ExpectationsDoes Not Meet ExpectationsValueFinancial CalculationsN/ACalculates accurate financial formulas to assess the business’s current financial health (100%)Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include calculating more accurate financial formulas to assess the business’s current financial health (85%)Does not attempt criterion (0%)21Fiscal Quarter ComparisonExceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%)Summarizes the differences between the results from the financial calculations of the most recent fiscal quarter and the results of the same financial calculations of the same fiscal quarter from one year ago (85%)Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include summarizing in more detail the differences between the results from the financial calculations of the most recent fiscal quarter and the results of the same financial calculations of the same fiscal quarter from one year ago (55%)Does not attempt criterion (0%)21Comparison AnalysisExceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%)Explains what the calculations and the comparison show about the business’s current financial health, giving examples to support the explanation (85%)Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include explaining in more detail what the calculations and the comparison show about the business’s current financial health or giving examples to support the explanation (55%)Does not attempt criterion (0%)22Short-Term FinancingExceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner (100%)Explains how potential short-term financing sources could help the business raise funds needed to improve its financial health, based on the business’s current financial information (85%)Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include explaining in more detail how potential short-term financing sources could help the business raise funds needed to improve its financial health, based on the business’s current financial information (55%)Does not attempt criterion (0%)21Clear CommunicationExceeds expectations with an intentional use of language that promotes a thorough understanding (100%)Consistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audience (85%)Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understanding (55%)Shows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication (0%)10Citations and AttributionsUses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with few or no minor errors (100%)Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errors (85%)Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errors (55%)Does not use citations for ideas requiring attribution (0%)5Total:100%