2014年12月CFA一级考试大纲（十）

　　This study session covers evaluating financial reporting quality and shows the appli?cation of financial statement analysis to debt and equity investments. The most frequently used tools and techniques to evaluate companies include common-size analysis, cross-sectional analysis, trend analysis, and ratio analysis. Beyond mere knowledge of these tools, however, the analyst must recognize the implications of accounting choices on the quality of a company’s reported financial results. Then the analyst can apply financial analysis techniques to analytical tasks including the evaluation of past and future financial performance, credit risk, and the screening of potential equity investments. The readings also explain analyst adjustments to reported financials. Such adjustments are often needed to put companies’ reported results on a comparable basis.

　　Reading 33 Financial Reporting Quality: Red Flags and Accounting Warning Signs Commercial Lending Review, by Thomas R. Robinson, CFA, and Paul Munter

　　Reading 34 Accounting Shenanigans on the Cash Flow Statement The CPA Journal, by Marc A. Siegel

　　Reading 35 Financial Statement Analysis: Applications International Financial Statement Analysis, by Thomas R. Robinson, CFA, Elaine Henry, CFA, and Michael A. Broihahn, CFA

　　The candidate should be able to:

　　a describe incentives that might induce a company’s executives to manage reported earnings, financial positions, and cash flows;

　　b describe activities that will result in a low quality of earnings;

　　c describe the three conditions that are generally present when fraud occurs, including the risk factors related to these conditions;

　　d describe common accounting warning signs and methods for detecting each.

　　The candidate should be able to:

　　a describe reasons for investors to assess the quality of cash flow statements;

　　b analyze and describe the following ways to manage or manipulate the cash flow statement: stretching out payables, financing of payables, securitization of receivables, issuing stock options, and using stock buybacks.

　　The candidate should be able to:

　　a evaluate a company’s past financial performance and explain how a company’s strategy is reflected in past financial performance;

　　b forecast a company’s future net income and cash flow;

　　c describe the role of financial statement analysis in assessing the credit quality of a potential debt investment;

　　d describe the use of financial statement analysis in screening for potential equity investments;

　　e explain appropriate analyst adjustments to a company’s financial statements to facilitate comparison with another company.