Instructions Summary:

For this 6–8 page assignment (Not including the title page, abstract if included, or reference page), you will create 1) the Financial Highlights, 2) the President’s Letter to the Stockholders, and 3) the Management Discussion and Analysis reports that would be contained in a company’s annual report to the shareholders.

Note: During Units 2, 3, and 4 you developed data for “Quixote Company.” But in Unit 4, you also had a Practice Assignment based on the “Rainbow Paint Company.” The Final Project will be based on the Rainbow Paint Company Financial Statements and the ratios that you compute as practice. The Quixote Company has a limited amount of data; therefore, the Rainbow Paint Company data will offer an opportunity to create a more robust Annual Report to Shareholders.

Companies normally issue these reports to stockholders and other interested parties. These reports summarize the company’s operating activities for the past year and plans for the future. There are many variations in the order and form for presenting the major sections of the annual report. You should conduct independent research to find a variety of corporate annual reports to use as guides in the preparation of your Unit 9 project.

Each week you will be addressing a different aspect of accounting and the business planning process. In the final project, you will use the information gained from the weekly assignments, the “Rainbow Paint Company” Review/Practice data, along with information obtained through research. These reports will be completed in Microsoft Word; a title page is required, but a running head is not necessary. An abstract is also not required. However, references will be required — therefore, it is important that you use a proper title page and correct reference list formatting. See the APA Template uploaded in Course Documents for examples of a properly formatted title page and reference list. Review the writing resources on APA style and formatting available in the Writing Center located in the Academic Success Center found in the Academic Tools area in your course.

When you review the examples of corporate annual reports that you select during your independent research, you will see that they can be very long and very complex. However, your assignment is limited to only 6–8 pages (not including the title page and reference list). Therefore, you should focus on the three aspects required for the final project. You are expected to use creativity and ingenuity in developing your final project. As you will see in the example annual reports you find in your independent research efforts, there is no one perfect way to prepare corporate annual reports.

However, the following information may help you as you complete your Unit 9 project.

Assignment checklist

• Financial Highlights
• President’s Letter to the Stockholders
• Management Discussion and Analysis

Here are some of the basic criteria that will be used to assess your final project:

• Project successfully presents every item in the assignment checklist in every aspect.
• The project correctly uses the Rainbow Company Data.
• The project exhibits strong higher-order critical thinking and analysis.
• Sentences are clear, concise, and direct; tone is appropriate.
• Grammatical skills are strong with almost no errors.
• Correct use of APA format where appropriate.