Olga Conrad, a financial writer, noted recently, “There are substantial arguments for including earnings projections in annual reports and the like. The most compelling is that it would give anyone interested something now available to only a relatively select few—like large stockholders, creditors, and attentive bartenders.” Identify some arguments against providing earnings projections.

Short Answer

Expert verified

Since the future is not predictable, the data that has been spoofed has led to discrimination and will be inconvenient for the organization.

Step by step solution

01

Meaning of Annual Reports

The annual report may be a report made by a company each year that includes the company's audited accounts, as well as a statement of profit or loss and how the administration believes the company will do in the future.

02

Identifying arguments providing earning projection

Arguments against providing earnings projections are as follows:

a) No one can anticipate the future. Subsequently, figures, whereas passing on an impression of accuracy around the future will by the by definitely be wrong.

b) Organizations will not endeavor to create comes about which are within the stockholders’ best interest but simply to meet their distributed figures.

c) When figures are not met, there will be recriminations and likely lawful activities.

d) Disclosure of figures will be inconvenient to organizations since it'll completely illuminate not as they were investors but competitors (foreign and domestic).

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Most popular questions from this chapter

“The significance of financial statement data is not in the amount alone.” Discuss the meaning of this statement.

What is the relationship of the asset turnover to the return on assets?

Okay. Last fall, someone with a long memory and an even longer arm reached into that bureau drawer and came out with a moldy cheese sandwich and the equally moldy notion of corporate forecasts. We tried to find out what happened to the cheese sandwich—but, rats!, even recourse to the Freedom of Information Act didn’t help. However, the forecast proposal was dusted off, polished up and found quite serviceable. The SEC, indeed, lost no time in running it up the old flagpole—but no one was very eager to salute. Even after some of the more objectionable features—compulsory corrections and detailed explanations of why the estimates went awry—were peeled off the original proposal.

Seemingly, despite the Commission’s smiles and sweet talk, those craven corporations were still afraid that an honest mistake would lead them down the primrose path to consent decrees and class action suits. To lay to rest such qualms, the Commission last week approved a “Safe Harbor” rule that, providing the forecasts were made on a reasonable basis and in good faith, protected corporations from litigation should the projections prove wide of the mark (as only about 99% are apt to do).

Instructions

  1. What are the arguments for preparing profit forecasts?

The following statement is an excerpt from the FASB pronouncement related to interim reporting. Interim financial information is essential to provide investors and others with timely information as to the progress of the enterprise. The usefulness of such information rests on the relationship that it has to the annual results of operations. Accordingly, the Board has concluded that each interim period should be viewed primarily as an integral part of an annual period. In general, the results for each interim period should be based on the accounting principles and practices used by an enterprise in the preparation of its latest annual financial statements unless a change in an accounting practice or policy has been adopted in the current year. The Board has concluded, however, that certain accounting principles and practices followed for annual reporting purposes may require modification at interim reporting dates so that the reported results for the interim period may better relate to the results of operations for the annual period.

Instructions

The following six independent cases present how accounting facts might be reported on an individual company’s interim financial reports. For each of these cases, state whether the method proposed to be used for interim reporting would be acceptable under generally accepted accounting principles applicable to interim financial data. Support each answer with a brief explanation.

d) Gansner Company realized a large gain on the sale of investments at the beginning of the second quarter. The company wants to report one-third of the gain in each of the remaining quarters.

An annual report of Ford Motor Corporation states, “Net income a share is computed based upon the average number of shares of capital stock of all classes outstanding. Additional shares of common stock may be issued or delivered in the future on conversion of outstanding convertible debentures, exercise of outstanding employee stock options, and for payment of defined supplemental compensation. Had such additional shares been outstanding, net income a share would have been reduced by 10¢ in the current year and 3¢ in the previous year. . . . As a result of capital stock transactions by the company during the current year (primarily the purchase of Class A Stock from Ford Foundation), net income a share was increased by 6¢.” What information is provided by this note?

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