In a three- to five-page paper (not including the title and reference pages) research and discuss how the SECs EDGAR | Search Tools improves how investors find and use financial information. In your paper,

• Explain how investors can use the Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) database at EDGAR | Search Tools (Links to an external site.) to research a companys operations and financial information.
• Assess the financial performance of Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) by determining the risk of investing in the company through financial statement analysis. To make the above assessment and determination, go to Amazons.com (Links to an external site.) official website, and locate the companys Investor Relations link. Using the Investors Relations link, find financial information such as SEC Filings and Annual Reports.
• Conclude how investors can assess Amazons.com financial performance and risk using Annual Reports.
• Explain the content of each report listed below in detail and how it relates to your assessment of Amazons.com financial performance.
  • Form 10-K SEC filings
  • Annual Reports
  • Management Discussion and Analysis
  • Managements Responsibility for Financial Reporting
  • Managements Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
  • Auditors Report
  • Selected Financial Data

Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) is the worlds largest electronic commerce and cloud computing company measured by revenue and market capitalization. The following items were adapted from a recent Annual Report of Amazon.com (Links to an external site.) for the year ending December 31:

In millions

1.                   Accounts payable

$16,459

2.                   Accounts receivable

5,612

3.                   Cash

14,557

4.                   Cost of sales

62,752

5.                   Income tax expense

167

6.                   Interest expense

210

7.                   Inventories

8,299

8.                   Net cash provided by operating activities

6,842

9.                   Net cash flows used for investing activities

(5,065)

10.               Net sales

88,988

11.               Other expense

118

12.               Other income

76

13.               Property, plant, and other long-term assets

16,967

14.               Selling, general, and administrative expenses

26,058

15.               Retained earnings (Dec. 31)

2,190

• Indicate on which financial statement you would find each of the preceding items using the following notations (note: an item may appear on more than one statement):
  • IS Income statement
  • SE Statement of stockholders equity
  • BS Balance sheet
  • SCF Statement of cash flow
• Prepare an income statement for the year ending December 31, based on the com, Inc. financial statement data shown above.

The Final Paper: SEC Filings and the EDGAR Database

• Must be three to five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Centers APA Style (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Students name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructors name
  • Date submitted

For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).

• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
• Must add an APA heading (Level 1 or Level 2) for each one of the topics discussed in the research paper as shown:
  • SEC EDGAR Database Level 1Amazons.com financial performance Level 1
  • Form 10-K SEC Filings Level 2
  • Annual Reports Level 2
  • Management Discussion and Analysis Level 2
  • Managements Responsibility for Financial Reporting Level 2
  • Managements Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting Level 2
  • Auditors Report Level 2
  • Selected Financial Data Level 2
  • Financial Statement Notations (IS, SE, BS, SCF) Level 1Amazons.com Income Statement Level 1

Use the following APA Style blog to read about the APA Five Levels of Headings (Links to an external site.)

• Must use at least 14 scholarly and/or credible articles from ProQuest Business, Industry Databases: Nasdaq.com, EY.com, and Comprehensive Accounting Databases: FASB codification, AICPA, and SEC reference library sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Centers Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.