DeVry Chicago ACCT 504 Financial Statement Analysis ProjectA - Comparative Analysis of Oracle

Your Course Project
Financial Statement Analysis ProjectA Comparative Analysis of Oracle
Corporation and Microsoft Corporation
Here is the link for the financial statements for Oracle Corporation for the fiscal year ending 2011. First,
select 2011 using the drop-down arrow labeled Year on the right-hand side of the page, and then select
Annual Reports using the drop-down arrow labeled Filing Type on the left-hand side of the page.
You should select the 10k dated 6/28/2011 and choose to download in PDF, Word, or Excel format.

http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/investor-relations/sec/index.html
Here is the link for the financial statements for Microsoft Corporation for the fiscal year ending 2011. You
need to press the word Go on the left-hand side of the page. Then you should select the 10k dated
7/28/2011 and choose to download in Word or Excel format.

http://www.microsoft.com/investor/SEC/default.aspx?year=2011&filing=annual
A sample project template is available for download in Doc Sharing. The sample project compares the
ratio performance of Tootsie Roll and Hershey using the 2012 financial statements of Tootsie Roll and
Hershey provided at their websites.
Description

This course contains a Course Project. You will be required to submit one draft of the project at the end of
Week 5 and the final, completed project at the end of Week 7. Using the financial statements for Oracle
Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, respectively, you will calculate and compare the financial ratios
listed further down this document for the fiscal year ending 2011 and prepare your comments about the
two companies performance based on your ratio calculations. The entire project will be graded by the
instructor at the end of the final submission in Week 7, and one grade will be assigned for the entire
project.

Overall Requirements
For the Final Submission
Your final Excel workbook submission should contain the following items. You cannot use any software
but Excel to complete this project.

1. A completed worksheet title page tab, which is really a coversheet with your name, the course,
the date, your instructors name, and the title for the project.

2. A completed worksheet profiles tab that contains a one-paragraph description regarding each
company with information about their histories, what products they sell, where they are located,
and so on.

3. All 18 ratios for each company, with the supporting calculations and commentary on your
worksheet ratio tab. Supporting calculations must be shown either as a formula or as text typed
into a different cell. The ratios are listed further down this document. Your comments for each

ratio should include more than just a definition of the ratio. You should focus on interpreting each
ratio number for each company and support your comments with the numbers found in the ratios.

4. The Summary and Conclusions worksheet tab is an overall comparison of how each company
compares in terms of the major category of ratios described in Chapter 13 of your textbook. A
nice way to conclude is to state which company you think is the better investment and why.

5. The Bibliography worksheet tab must contain at least your textbook as a reference. Any other
information you use to profile the companies should also be cited as a reference.
Required Ratios for Final Project Submission
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Earnings per Share of Common Stock
Current Ratio
Gross Profit Margin
Rate of Return on Sales (Net Profit Margin)
Inventory Turnover
Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO)
Accounts Receivable Turnover
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
Asset Turnover
Rate of Return on Total Assets (ROA)
Debt Ratio
Times Interest Earned Ratio
Dividend Yield (For the purposes of this ratio, use Yahoo Finance to look up current
dividend yield and stock price; just note the date that you looked up this information.)
14. Rate of Return on Common Stockholders Equity (ROE)
15. Free Cash Flow
16. Price/Earnings Ratio (Multiple) (For the purpose of this ratio, for Oracle, use the market price
per share on May 30, 2011 and for Microsoft, use the market price per share on June 30,
2011.)
The Excel files uploaded in the Dropboxes should not include any unnecessary numbers or
information (such as previous years' ratios, ratios that were not specifically asked for in the
project, etc.).

Please upload your final submission to the Week 7 Dropbox by the Sunday ending Week 7.
For the Draft
Create an Excel spreadsheet or use the project template to show your computations for the first 10 ratios
listed above. The more you can complete regarding the other requirements, the closer you will be to
completion when Week 7 arrives. Supporting calculations must be shown either as a formula or as text
typed into a different cell. If you plan on creating your own spreadsheet, please follow the format provided
in the Tootsie Roll and Hershey template file.
Please upload your draft submission to the Week 5 Dropbox by the Sunday at the end of Week 5.
Other Helpful information
If you feel uncomfortable with Excel, you can find many helpful references on Excel by performing a
Google search.

Chapter 13 contains ratio calculations and comparison comments related to Apple and Dell; you will likely
find this information helpful.
BigCharts.com provides historical stock quotes.
Either APA or MLA style can be used to complete the references on your Bibliography tab. There is a
tutorial for APA and MLA style within the Syllabus.

Grade Information
The entire project will be graded by the instructor at the end of the final submission in Week 7,
and one grade will be assigned for the entire project. The project will count for 18% of your overall
course grade.

Category

Points

%

Description

Documentation
and Formatting

9

5%

The report will be submitted in the form of an
Excel Workbook, with each page (worksheet) of
the workbook named appropriately. Please do
not use any other software (such as MS
Works or Lotus) to complete the project. A
quality report will include a title worksheet tab, a
worksheet tab for the profile of the two
companies, a worksheet tab for the ratio
calculations and comments, a worksheet tab for
the summary and conclusion, proper citations if
applicable, and a bibliography worksheet tab for
the references.

Organization
and Cohesiveness

9

5%

A quality report will include the content
described above in the documentation and
formatting section. The ratios should be listed in
the same order in which they appear in the
project information above.

Editing

18

10%

A quality report will be free of any spelling,
punctuation, or grammatical errors. Sentences
and paragraphs will be clear, concise, and
factually correct. Ratios will be expressed as
numbers or percentages, depending on what
is appropriate, as is shown in the textbook.
Note that not all ratios are shown as
percentages. Two decimal places are sufficient
for each of the ratios.

Content

144

80%

A quality report will have correct ratio
calculations and accurate supporting
commentary. Any assumptions, if made, should
be spelled out clearly. Supporting calculations
must be shown either as a formula or as text
typed into a different cell.

Total

180

100%

A quality report will meet or exceed all of the
above requirements.