State Farm Record Keeping Systems and Comparative Financial Statement

Abstract

Chapter I is an introductory chapter which provides a brief overview of the thesis. It is in Chapter II where the thesis begins to take form. Chapter II provides an analysis of the basic structure of the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow. The means of analyzing these three statements is included in Chapter II. Ratio analysis is the most common form of financial statement analysis therefore the discussion is limited to the type of analysis. There are four groups of ratios that are discussed in Chapter II. These groups are the liquidity, solvency, efficiency and profitability ratios. Included in the discussion of the ratios are examples from each category. The last part of Chapter II has a brief discussion over proforma analysis. This is the process of forming some expectations about the future and then formulating plans and budgets around these expectations. Chapter III and Chapter IV are the two most important chapters in this thesis. Chapter II has a brief discussion concerning the need for comparative analysis for farmers. It is in Chapters III and IV that this idea is expanded upon. Chapter III discusses the state recording keeping systems that are used in other states. Two of the states discussed in this chapter, Illinois and Kansas, have the oldest record keeping in the country. The information available from the Texas Agricultural Extension Service to Texas farmers is also presented in Chapter III. This information is very limited in scope compared to the type of information a farmer in Illinois or Kansas has available. Thus Chapter IV presents the types of analysis that a farmer in Kansas can do that a Texas farmer cannot. Chapter IV concludes with a set proposals for establishing some form of a state record keeping system in Texas.