ACC 549, MBA 549, MBA 560: Financial Statement Analysis: APA citation help

APA 7.0 Citing Business Resources

 

If you obtain the resources from a library database, you use the citation that includes that information. If you retrieve the information from the SEC or the company website, you include that information. Assisting your reader with locating the article is extremely important.  A DOI or URL should be included, and should take the reader directly to the source if the item was not retrieved from a library resource.

Your reference list should be organized alphabetically by the author's last names. A company can be used as an author. (see examples, below).

Please see APA 7.0 for more information.

 

Company 10K Examples

Company 10K retrieved from Standard & Poors NetAdvantage, (a library resource)

McDonald's Corporation. (2021, December 1). Form 10‐K 2021. Standard & Poors NetAdvantage database.

Company (Apple) 10K, obtained from the SEC:

      Apple Inc. (2018). Form 10-K 2018. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. http://pdf.secdatabase.com/1033/0000320193-18-000145.pdf

Company 10K retrieved from Microsoft's investor relations website:

        Microsoft Corp . (2017). Form 10-k 2017. Microsoft Corp. https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar17/download-center/index.html

 

Annual Reports

Please note: An annual report should not be used as a "10K".

Kroger. (2019). Notice of 2020 annual meeting of shareholders, 2020 proxy statement, and 2019 annual report on form 10-K. http://s1.q4cdn.com/137099145/files/doc_financials/2019/ar/2019-Annual-Report.pdf

Wal Mart, Inc. (2022).  Annual report to shareholders. http://investors.walmartstores.com

 

Library Resources

When you retrieve an item from a library resource, you do not need to include which library resource you used, unless your professor indicates otherwise.

Article from a library database:

A.O. Smith Corporation (AOS). (2020). London: GlobalData plc. ProQuest One Academic; ProQuest One Business databse.
        https://saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/reports/o-smith-corporation-aos/docview

Trade Magazine Article:

Maze, J. (2020, May 29). Game of chicken: Popeyes' sandwich and Chick-fil-A's consistency proved again that
         America can't get enough chicken. Restaurant Business.

Newspaper:

Shell, A. (2018, January 16). 10 stocks caught in crosshairs of China trade war. USA Today.

Company 10K:

McDonald's Corporation. (2021, December 1). Form 10‐K 2021. Standard & Poors NetAdvantage database.

Company Annual Report:

Wal Mart, Inc. (2022).  Annual report to shareholders. Business Insights Essentials database.  
 

Websites

When you use a website, you should include the URL.Last-name, First-initial. (Year, Month Day of Creation). Title of work. Website name. URL.

Examples:

Rowlatt, Justin. (2020, January 28). Antarctica melting: Climate change and the journey to the doomsday BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51097309

Frost and Sullivan. (2018, November 28). Future of mass-market and premium performance vehicles, 2025. https://store.frost.com/future-of-mass-market-and-premium-performance-vehicles-2025.html

U.S. Government (Census) source (still a website, author is Census Bureau):

U.S. Census Bureau. (2017). Construction: Summary statistics for the US, states, and selected geographies (Table EC1723BASIC) [Data set]. U.S. Department of Commerce.  https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/econ/economic-census/naics-sector-23.html

 

Basic in-Text Citation Styles: (Narrative and Parenthetical)

In-text citations, whether direct quotes or paraphrases, have two formats. "In parenthetical citations, the author name and publication date (or equivalent information: see Section 9.12) appear in parentheses. In narrative citations, this information is incorporated into the text as part of the sentence" (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020).

See 8.1 Table, page 266 in APA 7.0 book for examples  (NOTE: citing specific parts of a source or page number not covered here)

Author Type	Parenthetical Citation	Narrative Citation
Single Author	(McGovern, 2021)	McGovern (2021)
Corporate Author	(Citigroup, 2022)	Citigroup (2020)
Two Authors	(Diego & Breagan, 2021)	Diego and Breagan (2021)
Three or more Authors	(Smith, et.al, 2022)	Smith et al. (2022)
Group author with abbreviation (1st time cited)   Group author subsequent citations	(Name of Organization [abbreviation], 2020)   (HUD, 2020)	Name of Organization (abbreviation, 2020)   HUD (2020)

See p.266-267 for more information

Investing & Core Values

Investment decisions based on one's emotions, an athlete featured in commercials or endorsing a specific product such as a shoe or handbag, or a few social media posts found online are not the best method to use when investing in a particular company. Weighing the company's financial health and return on a potential investment is best done by a careful analysis of long-term and short-term financials. Locating the information needed to make those decisions can be done through the library, as well as the company's website, and via the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allows individuals and corporate investors to have more confidence in their investment decisions by requiring publicly traded companies to submit reports about the company's finances using standard accounting practices, which are then made available online.  "The SEC strives to promote a market environment that is worthy of the public's trust" (SEC, n.d.). 

The library is also a great resource, offering financial information about publicly traded companies in Standard and Poors NetAdvantage, and additional information and articles in ProQuest One Business and EBSCO Business Source Complete. 

Using high-quality information sources for financial statement analysis assignments reflects one of the core values of Saint Leo University; responsible stewardship, and integrity (Saint Leo University, n.d.). Information gathered in financial statement analysis will prepare students for a real-world application of knowledge and skills learned by practicing them in course assignments. 

References

Saint Leo University. (n.d.) Mission, values, and identity https://www.saintleo.edu/about/mission-values

Securities and Exchange Commission. (n.d.) About the SEC. https://www.sec.gov/about