Wall Street Technicals

Front 1

Walk me through the 3 financial statements

Back 1

The 3 major financial statements are the Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement.
The Income Statement gives the company’s revenue and expenses, and goes down to Net Income, the final line on the statement.
The Balance Sheet shows the company’s Assets – its resources – such as Cash, Inventory and PP&E, as well as its Liabilities – such as Debt and Accounts Payable – and Shareholders’ Equity. Assets must equal Liabilities plus Shareholders’ Equity.
The Cash Flow Statement begins with Net Income, adjusts for non-cash expenses and working capital changes, and then lists cash flow from investing and financing activities; at the end, you see the company’s net change in cash.”

Front 2

Can you give examples of major line items on each of the financial statements?

Back 2

Income Statement: Revenue; Cost of Goods Sold; SG&A (Selling, General & Administrative Expenses); Operating Income; Pretax Income; Net Income.
Balance Sheet: Cash; Accounts Receivable; Inventory; Plants, Property & Equipment (PP&E); Accounts Payable; Accrued Expenses; Debt; Shareholders’ Equity.
Cash Flow Statement: Net Income; Depreciation & Amortization; Stock-Based Compensation; Changes in Operating Assets & Liabilities; Cash Flow From Operations; Capital Expenditures; Cash Flow From Investing; Sale/Purchase of Securities; Dividends Issued; Cash Flow From Financing

Front 3

How do the 3 statements link together?

Back 3

“To tie the statements together, Net Income from the Income Statement flows into Shareholders’ Equity on the Balance Sheet, and into the top line of the Cash Flow Statement.
Changes to Balance Sheet items appear as working capital changes on the Cash Flow Statement, and investing and financing activities affect Balance Sheet items such as PP&E, Debt and Shareholders’ Equity. The Cash and Shareholders’ Equity items on the Balance Sheet act as “plugs,” with Cash flowing in from the final line on the Cash Flow Statement.”

Front 4

. If I were stranded on a desert island, only had 1 statement and I wanted to review the overall health of a company – which statement would I use and why?

Back 4

You would use the Cash Flow Statement because it gives a true picture of how much cash the company is actually generating, independent of all the non-cash expenses you might have. And that’s the #1 thing you care about when analyzing the overall financial health of any business – its cash flow.

Front 5

Let’s say I could only look at 2 statements to assess a company’s prospects – which 2 would I use and why?

Back 5

You would pick the Income Statement and Balance Sheet, because you can create the Cash Flow Statement from both of those (assuming, of course that you have “before” and “after” versions of the Balance Sheet that correspond to the same period the Income Statement is tracking).

Front 6

6. Walk me through how Depreciation going up by $10 would affect the statements.

Back 6

Income Statement: Operating Income would decline by $10 and assuming a 40% tax rate, Net Income would go down by $6.
Cash Flow Statement: The Net Income at the top goes down by $6, but the $10 Depreciation is a non-cash expense that gets added back, so overall Cash Flow from Operations goes up by $4. There are no changes elsewhere, so the overall Net Change in Cash goes up by $4.
Balance Sheet: Plants, Property & Equipment goes down by $10 on the Assets side because of the Depreciation, and Cash is up by $4 from the changes on the Cash Flow Statement.
Overall, Assets is down by $6. Since Net Income fell by $6 as well, Shareholders’ Equity on the Liabilities & Shareholders’ Equity side is down by $6 and both sides of the Balance Sheet balance.
Note: With this type of question I always recommend going in the order:
1. Income Statement
2. Cash Flow Statement
3. Balance Sheet
This is so you can check yourself at the end and make sure the Balance Sheet balances.
Remember that an Asset going up decreases your Cash Flow, whereas a Liability going up increases your Cash Flow.

Front 7

. If Depreciation is a non-cash expense, why does it affect the cash balance?

Back 7

Although Depreciation is a non-cash expense, it is tax-deductible. Since taxes are a cash expense, Depreciation affects cash by reducing the amount of taxes you pay

Front 8

Where does Depreciation usually show up on the Income Statement

Back 8

It could be in a separate line item, or it could be embedded in Cost of Goods Sold or Operating Expenses – every company does it differently. Note that the end result for accounting questions is the same: Depreciation always reduces Pre-Tax Income.

Front 9

What happens when Accrued Compensation goes up by $10?

Back 9

For this question, confirm that the accrued compensation is now being recognized as an expense (as opposed to just changing non-accrued to accrued compensation).
Assuming that’s the case, Operating Expenses on the Income Statement go up by $10, Pre-Tax Income falls by $10, and Net Income falls by $6 (assuming a 40% tax rate).
On the Cash Flow Statement, Net Income is down by $6, and Accrued Compensation will increase Cash Flow by $10, so overall Cash Flow from Operations is up by $4 and the Net Change in Cash at the bottom is up by $4.
On the Balance Sheet, Cash is up by $4 as a result, so Assets are up by $4. On the Liabilities & Equity side, Accrued Compensation is a liability so Liabilities are up by $10 and Retained Earnings are down by $6 due to the Net Income, so both sides balance.

Front 10

. What happens when Inventory goes up by $10, assuming you pay for it with cash?

Back 10

No changes to the Income Statement.
On the Cash Flow Statement, Inventory is an asset so that decreases your Cash Flow from Operations – it goes down by $10, as does the Net Change in Cash at the bottom.
On the Balance Sheet under Assets, Inventory is up by $10 but Cash is down by $10, so the changes cancel out and Assets still equals Liabilities & Shareholders’ Equity.

Front 11

Why is the Income Statement not affected by changes in Inventory?

Back 11

This is a common interview mistake – incorrectly stating that Working Capital changes show up on the Income Statement.
In the case of Inventory, the expense is only recorded when the goods associated with it are sold – so if it’s just sitting in a warehouse, it does not count as a Cost of Good Sold or Operating Expense until the company manufactures it into a product and sells it.

Front 12

Let’s say Apple is buying $100 worth of new iPad factories with debt. How are all 3 statements affected at the start of “Year 1,” before anything else happens?

Back 12

At the start of “Year 1,” before anything else has happened, there would be no changes on Apple’s Income Statement (yet).