Assignment 1: Annual Report Project
Due week 8

Darrin Ingraham 08/15/2012

ACCT 100 – Introduction to Accounting
Instructor: Professor Jerome Newman

Abstract

This paper is an overview of Wal-Mart’s Annual Report. The purpose of a corporate annual report is to communicate to stockholders and other interested parties its financial statements. The annual report is a summary of the corporation’s operations over the previous 12 month time period and states the corporation’s plans for the future. Many annual reports are created to resemble a corporate brochure, using lots of pictures, color, charts and graphs. Despite the fancy look, the main purpose of the report is to provide the year’s financial data, which comes from the corporation’s accounting system.

This paper identifies and explains the main sections of the annual report. I try to discuss the key factors that influenced the company’s financial performance during the year and the primary assets held by the company. Lastly, I explain how management characterizes the internal control environment of the company.

Identify and explain the main sections of the annual report.
A company's annual report is a comprehensive report of its activities throughout the preceding year. They help in understanding the past performance of the company and making future predictions about the company. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders, employees, potential investors, banks, government agencies and other parties who are outside the business information about the company's financial performance. The most common components of the annual report are the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flows, and the owner's equity statement.
A balance sheet reports the assets, liabilities, and owner's equity at a specific date. An income statement presents the revenues and