Library Guides: FIN 201 Financial Accounting: Getting Started

Articles from Newspapers, Magazines and Scholarly Journals

ABI/INFORM Global
ABI/INFORM Global covers business and financial publications for researchers at all levels.
Coverage includes economic conditions, corporate strategies, management theory and techniques, buisiness trends, landscape and product information, account and finance.
The platform includes access to:
- The Economist (full text available in PDF)
- The Financial Times (with a 30 days delay)
- The Wall Street Journal, Eastern Edition (full text available in HTML)
- The Wall Street Journal Online (full text available in HTML)

Accounting Research Network
From the Social Sciences Research Network, From the Social Sciences Research Network. ARN contains white papers and journal articles in accounting, auditing and taxation.

Quick Reference Resources

Campbell R. Harvey's Hypertextual Finance Glossary
Great place to look for a quick definition of financial terms.
Wachowicz's Web World
Collection of financial management websites arranged in categories linked to Fundamentals of Financial Management, a textbook by James Van Horne and John Wachowicz.

Open Access Resources

These resources are ideal starting points when you are trying to find a quick snapshot of a company. The basic facts include address and phone number, annual sales, number of employees, type of business, chief executives, and year founded.

Bloomberg
Company profiles, stock and financial information. Also includes latest financial news.
Google finance
Stock and market information for major companies and market news.
MSN Money Key Ratios
Contains company and industry ratios. Search by company name or ticker symbol. based on stock data provided by Media General Financial Services.
Yahoo! Finance
Stock market information and company financials for publicaly traded companies.

Annual Reports

If it is a public company, go to the annual report to shareholders. The annual report is perhaps the best single source of information on a company, but keep in mind that it is written partially as a promotional tool by the company itself and is not an entirely unbiased source. Annual reports appear as parts of various database services, and many companies provide annual reports on their websites or will send out paper copies on request. When you are on a company’s website, look for a link labeled Investor Relations.

Private companies are not required to file annual reports, although some will publish reports as a promotional tool. These private company annual reports are virtually impossible to obtain except from the company itself, and all information in such a report must be treated cautiously. Business directories provide basic information on private companies, such as number of employees and annual sales estimates. Lastly, search local or regional newspapers for information on local and private companies.