William Letzer- Role of Financial Statements

A primary source of knowledge may be a company's annual report, including the financial statements and notes, and management commentary (operating and financial review or management's discussion and analysis). This reading focuses on data presented in financial reports prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the US generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP). However, financial reports don't contain all the data needed to perform effective financial analysis. Although financial statements do contain data about the past performance of a corporation (its income and cash flows) furthermore as its current status (assets, liabilities, and owners' equity), such statements don't necessarily provide all the data useful for analysis nor do they forecast future results. The financial analysts like William Letzer will be capable of using financial statements in conjunction with other information to form projections and reach valid conclusions. Accordingly, an analyst typically has to supplement the data found in a very company's financial reports with other information, including information on the economy, industry, comparable companies, and also the company itself.