Fundamentals of Financial Accounting 4th Edition by Fred Phillips,Robert Libby,Patricia Libby

Exercise 88

Internet-Based Team Research: Examining Deferrals and Accruals
As a team, select an industry to analyze. Using your Web browser, each team member should access the annual report or 10-K for one publicly traded company in the industry, with each member selecting a different company. (See S1-3 in Chapter 1 for a description of possible resources for these tasks.)
Required:
1. On an individual basis, each team member should write a short report listing the following:
a. The company's total assets and total liabilities at the end of each year.
b. The company's prepaid expenses and accrued liabilities at the end of each year.
c. The percentage of prepaid expenses to total assets and the percentage of accrued liabilities to total liabilities.
d. Describe and explain the types of accrued liabilities reported in the notes to the financial statements.
2. Discuss any patterns that you as a team observe. Then, as a team, write a short report comparing and contrasting your companies according to the preceding attributes. Provide potential explanations for any differences discovered.