Additional Information
Financial statements are not the sole output of a financial reporting system. Additional information about a company is also communicated. A thorough financial statement analysis involves examining this additional information.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A). Companies with publicly
traded debt and equity securities are required by the Securities and Exchange
Commission to file a Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A). Management
must highlight any favorable or unfavorable trends and identify significant
events and uncertainties that affect a company’s liquidity, capital resources, and
results of operations. They must also disclose prospective information involving
material events and uncertainties known to cause reported financial information
to be less indicative of future operating activities or financial condition. The
MD&A for Colgate shown in Appendix A includes a year-by-year analysis along
with an evaluation of its liquidity and capital resources by business activities.
Management Report. The purposes of this report are to reinforce: (1) senior management’s responsibilities for the company’s financial and internal control
system and (2) the shared roles of management, directors, and the auditor in
preparing financial statements. Colgate’s report, titled Report of Management, discusses its policies and procedures to enhance the reliability of its financial records.
Its report also highlights the role of its audit committee of the board of directors in
providing added assurance for the reliability of financial statements.
Auditor Report. An external auditor is an independent certified public accountant
hired by management to provide an opinion on whether or not the company’s financial statements are prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles. Financial statement analysis requires a review of the auditor’s report to
ascertain whether the company received an unqualified opinion. Anything less than
an unqualified opinion increases the risk of analysis. Colgate’s Report of Independent
Accountants, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, is reproduced in Appendix A.
Colgate received an unqualified opinion.We discuss audit reports in Appendix 2A.
Explanatory Notes. Explanatory notes that accompany financial reports play an
integral part in financial statement analysis. Notes are a means of communicating
additional information regarding items included or excluded from the body of the
statements. The technical nature of notes creates a need for a certain level of accounting knowledge on the part of financial statement analysts. Explanatory notes
include information on: (1) accounting principles and methods employed, (2) detailed
disclosures regarding individual financial statement items, (3) commitments
and contingencies, (4) business combinations, (5) transactions with related parties,
(6) stock option plans, (7) legal proceedings, and (8) significant customers. The
notes for Colgate follow its financial statements in Appendix A.
Supplementary Information. Supplemental schedules to the financial statement
notes include information on: (1) business segment data, (2) export sales, (3) marketable securities, (4) valuation accounts, (5) short-term borrowings, and (6) quarterly financial data. Several supplemental schedules appear in the annual report of Colgate. An example is the information on segment operations included as note 14
in Colgate’s annual report.
Proxy Statements. Shareholder votes are solicited for the election of directors
and for corporate actions such as mergers, acquisitions, and authorization of securities.
A proxy is a means whereby a shareholder authorizes another person to act
for him or her at a meeting of shareholders. A proxy statement contains information
necessary for shareholders in voting on matters for which the proxy is
solicited. Proxy statements contain a wealth of information regarding a company
including the identity of shareholders owning 5% or more of outstanding shares,
biographical information on the board of directors, compensation arrangements
with officers and directors, employee benefit plans, and certain transactions with
officers and directors. Proxy statements are not typically part of the annual report