The final project for xacc 280 is a 1,750 to 2,050-word (about 3

The final project for XACC 280 is a 1,750 to 2,050-word (about 3 pages, double spaced) paper in which you provide a comprehensive analysis of the financial health of McDonald’s Corporation and whether or not you would invest in McDonald’s Corporation based on the information provided for 2009 and 2010 in their 2010 Annual Financial Report. The paper, with in-text citations and references, must follow APA formatting guidelines. NOTE: The word count does NOT include the charts and calculations at the end of your paper.

Papers need to include: a cover page, section titles, in-text citations, reference page. Your papers should also be edited to remove spelling errors/word errors (using defiantly instead of definitely for example), paragraph breaks (not one long paragraph), double-spaced, good sentence structure and clearly stated and well supported (with sources) points.

The final project is designed so you can apply the concepts and skills learned in this course to a real-life financial accounting analysis. It incorporates your foundational knowledge—resulting from completion of Discussion questions, Check Points, Exercises, and Assignments—into a paper that describes your financial analyses and conclusion. When navigating each week, keep your final project in mind to help you to prepare and gather needed information.

The paper will include the following (do NOT include calculations within the paper, only the results should be stated and discussed). All calculations should be formatted and included after the concluding paragraph (see below):

Before you begin writing, complete and review all of your calculations first since you will need the results to include in the writing of your paper.
• An introductory paragraph with:
o A statement of the purpose of your paper.
o A synopsis of what readers can expect to find in the paper. It is best to write this after writing the rest of the paper.
• Your explanation of your calculated results in words of at least two Vertical analyses for McDonald’s Corporation.
• Your explanation in words of at least two Horizontal analyses for McDonald’s Corporation.
• Your explanation in words of at least two of each of the Ratio analyses for McDonald’s Corporation, including a test of:
o Explain in words your calculated results of the two ratio tests of Liquidity.
o Explain in words your calculated results of the two ratio tests of Solvency.
o Explain in words your calculated results of the two ratio tests of Profitability.
• NOTE: ONLY USE THE RATIOS PROVIDED IN OUR TEXT (pg 716 – Illustration 15-27), NOT AS A RESULT OF GOOGLE SEARCHES.
• Describe and clearly explain at least two strengths in different areas for McDonald’s Corporation other than using the revenue or net income information.
o Incorporate the data and other information you used to determine each area of strength.
• Describe and clearly explain at least two areas of improvement that McDonald’s Corporation should make to improve its financial health. There can be other nonfinancial areas that fast food stores can improve, but be sure to clearly link these areas to how they would improve McDonald’s financial health.
o Incorporate the data and other information you used to determine each area of improvement.
• If you had money to invest in a company, describe whether or not you would invest in McDonald’s Corporation stock and clearly explain your reasons. State at least two reasons (different from your list of strengths above). Support those reasons with factual information and include the source(s). Your opinion is important, but your opinion should be supported with factual information either from the Annual Report, articles about McDonald’s Corporation or even comparative data from another fast food chain (include the source). (Resist the urge to say you would not invest because you would use the money for something else or that you do not understand investing). All responses must be in the context of McDonald’s financial position in order to earn credit.)
• A concluding paragraph that summarizes your paper. This should be a separate paragraph at the end of your paper.
• After your conclusion in a separate section, include your calculations for all of the analyses and ratios.
o Vertical – You can use your calculations from the Week 7 Check Point, providing you show your work.
o Horizontal – You can use your calculations from the Week 7 Check Point, providing you show your work.
o Liquidity – You can use the Current Ratios you computed in the Week 7 Check Point and select another ratio from that section on pg 716. Show your work.
o Solvency – Use the two ratios on pg 716 in that section and show your work.
o Profitability – Use at least two ratios from that section on pg 716 and show your work.
• After your calculations, then include the list of your references.