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Interpreting Annual Reports
Learn how to read your annual report (and your customers' and competitors' reports too)
Does your annual report go into a drawer, never to be seen again?
Every employee in your company receives an annual report. Why? Because it's critical that everyone understands what happened in the previous year (financially and otherwise). Your employees also need to know what the company is telling shareholders and others in the investment community, and what the plans are for the coming year.
But how many people actually read the annual report and, of that group, how many people truly understand its contents?
How many people actually read the annual report and, of that group, how many people truly understand its contents?
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This class teaches participants how to read your annual report. The facilitator highlights the key concepts and content in the report. The financial statements are also reviewed, giving participants an opportunity to understand and discuss the meaning of the financial results. In the process, each participant learns how his or her activities impact these numbers.
Target Audiences
- Salespeople. Imagine that your salespeople read the annual report of each prospect and each existing customer, learning about the plans, key issues, and financial results of each company. Then imagine what kind of business partner your salespeople could be to prospects and customers, using the knowledge to offer custom-made solutions for the needs of each customer.
- Line level employees. Consider the impact if each of your employees knew the company's goals and results as presented in the annual report and understood how their performance impacts these numbers.
- Managers. Suppose managers could use the information in the annual report, such as big picture goals as well as department areas of focus, to make decisions about where to focus their own and their department's time. Suppose they understood the story the numbers told in the annual report, and then focused on improving those numbers.
Key Takeaways
- Understand the key activities in your organization. Participants will learn how to identify the important activities in your organization. Then, employing both the glossy annual report and the 10K, they will see how the company has been performing and what this means for the future.
- Learn the story of your financial results. Class members will discuss what the numbers in your annual report tell about where your company has been, and where it is going.
- Analyze other companies. Participants will learn how to read other companies' annual reports — competitors, clients, or potential acquisitions.
Topics to Consider for "Interpreting Annual Reports"
- The structure and content of an annual report (both the glossy brochure and the 10K)
- Key terms used in an annual report
- Reading and analyzing the letter to the shareholders
- Reading and understanding the description of the company
- Reading and understanding the financial statements and notes
Recommended Customization
- Use of your annual report
- Use of a competitor's annual report
- Use of a customer's or prospect's annual report
Where to Start
Call us and we can help you think through the appropriate content for your needs and target audience. Think about the following questions:
- What results do you want to achieve with the course?
- Who in your organization would benefit the most from this knowledge?
- What is the current level of understanding and use of the concepts of the target audience?
