Company Finances
Whether you are interested in a role directly working with finances and accounting or not, having a basic understanding of the partners, revenue sources, and expenditures of an organization can help inform you of their priorities, values, and financial stability.
Many companies will publish their annual, quarterly, or monthly financial reports, especially if they are publicly traded on the stock market. News about recent or potential acquisitions or mergers, official business partnerships, and market research can all help build an understanding of a company's finances.
Questions to Consider:
- Does the company publish their quarterly or annual reports? If they do, open the most recent one and note anything that stands out you from the first few pages.
- What other businesses or organizations does this company partner or collaborate with?
- What information can you find about what the company spends money on? This may include paying for office space, employee wages, manufacturing costs, charitable donations, political contributions, and more.
- Search for this company in Mergent Market Atlas, and use the "Chart" and "Financials" to see an overview of the company's finances over a selected time period. How has the company's annual revenue and stock value changed over the last 5 years?
Hint: If you're having trouble finding a company's Mergent profile, you may need to look up their ticker symbol. Not all organizations have Mergent profiles, especially if they are non-profits. - Search for the company in a business news source like the Wall Street Journal or the Regional Business News database. Is there any news coverage about the company's finances?
Resources for Financial Reporting
Many publicly traded companies will have a page with information for investors or shareholders, including financial reports and earnings summaries. If you can't find it on their website, do an online search for the company name and "shareholder's report," "annual report," or "quarterly report."
You can find additional information about many publicly traded companies, including detailed company data such as historic equity pricing, in the Mergent Market Atlas database. When searching for a company in Mergent Market Atlas, you may need to search by the ticker symbol, a unqiue abbreviation used to recognize a company on stock tickers, rather than the full name. You can find this by doing an online search for the company name and "ticker symbol."
- Mergent Market AtlasMergent Market Atlas is a database of corporate information covering over 50,000 US and foreign public companies. The platform includes:
- Detailed company data: global standardized and as reported fundamentals, ratio analysis, SEC filings and annual reports, sustainability (ESG) scores, officers & directors biographies and compensation, and more
- Macro level data: economic time series data, industry analytics, risk reports, and more.
- SEC - Search FilingsThis resource from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provides free public access to millions of informational documents filed by publicly traded companies and others in the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system.
Resources for Tracking Business Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions
Information on business partnerships, acquisitions, mergers, and bankruptcies may be published on a dedicated page on the company's website or reflected in their press releases or latest news. However, news media will also often cover major partnerships or collaborations. The Wall Street Journal may be an especially useful resource, as it prioritizes news through the lens of business, finance, economics and money.
- Newspaper Digital Subscriptions
Connect to the Newspaper Digital Subscriptions for Students, Faculty, and Staff guide to learn how to sign up for your personal subscription to the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal through Norfolk State University.
These subscription services are available to all NSU Students, Faculty, and Staff for FREE by using your NSU email address at sign up.
Each subscription includes full access to the news source via their website or app and most also include archival materials
- Regional Business News (EBSCOhost)
This database provides comprehensive full text coverage for regional business publications. It incorporates coverage of more than 80 regional business publications covering all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States.
Resources for Tracking Donations and Contributions
Companies may track their charitable contributions on pages dedicated to community engagement, charitable giving, or company impact. Each company may use a different name to track these donations. If you can't find this information on the company's website, try an online search for the company's name and charitable donation.
As a general rule, in the United States contributions to political candidates or Political Action Committees (PACs) of more than $200 are public information. The minimum donation amount may vary by state for gubernatorial or state legislature elections. This information is registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
- FEC Campaign Finance DataSee how candidates and committees raise and spend money in federal elections. This financial data helps voters make informed decisions. You can search for individual contributors to see FEC record
- OpenSecretsOpenSecrets is a research group that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying. Click "start your search" to search their data and news publications by politicians & lobbyists, organizations, donors, or news.
Resources for Non-profit Financials
Companies that are non-profit or not-for-profit report their financials in different ways than for profit companies.
Organizations organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, educational, or other specified purposes and that meet certain other requirements are tax exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). - From IRS
If you are looking for financial data on non-profits, check out the links below.
- IRS Tax Exempt Organization SearchFind information about an organization's tax-exempt status and filings. By viewing Form 990 (click on the "Copies of Returns" button to see years available), you can see the general revenues and expenditures of the organization.
- ProPublica Nonprofit ExplorerBrowse millions of annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations. See details like executive compensation, revenue, expenses and more. Search for an organization or a person, or search the full text of filings. It pulls data from IRS Form 990.
- Virginia Auditor of Public AccountsThe Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) acts as the General Assembly's eyes and ears, independently monitoring and reporting how state agencies and institutions spend taxpayers' money. The agency helps the Commonwealth's leaders address the challenges facing Virginia today by providing sound, reliable information and alternatives. From their About Us page. You can find information about Virginia State agencies and Institutions. All U.S. states will have an Auditor.
Company Finances Vocabulary
Acquisition - One business purchasing the majority of shares or assets of another, independent company in order to gain control of the company.
Annual Report - A summary of a company's financial performance over a year. This may include information like financial goals, specific projects or challenges, performance highlights, or plans for the next year.
Annual Revenue - The amount of money a business makes over a year from selling goods or services, without subtracting any money for expenses.
Bankruptcy - A legal proceeding initiated when a person or business cannot repay outstanding debts or obligations.
Market Value - The price at which something would be sold in a competitive setting. For businesses, the market value refers to value of company shares on the stock market.
Merger - Two independent businesses combining to form a singular business or entity.
Operational costs - Costs associated with the daily operations of a business, such as the costs of materials, labor, rent and utilities, or advertising.
Public Company - A company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded by the general public.
Quarterly Report - A summary of a company's financial performance over a 3 month period. This may include information like financial goals, specific challenges, and both quarterly and year-to-date earnings.
Share - A single unit of ownership of a public company.
Stock Exchange - A centralized marketplace where shares, bonds, and other financial instruments are bought and sold.
Stocks - The total ownership interest of a public company, divided into individual shares.
Ticker Symbol - An abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock exchange.
For further vocabulary:
A Dictionary of Business and Management by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780191059582Publication Date: 2016This dictionary covers areas of business and management, including marketing, organizational behaviour, business strategy, law, and taxation. Now in its sixth edition, it features recent developments such as social media and peer-to-peer lending, as well as the financial crisis and the subsequent sovereign debt crisis.
