a) General Mills is a leading producer of packaged consumer foods. According to the financial statements, General Mills makes most of the money from sales. They have 3 segments: US Retail, International and Bakeries and Food Services.
b)
1) The following are the financial statements that are commonly prepared for external reporting purposes:
* Balance Sheet * Income Statement * Statement of cash flows * Statement of Stockholder’s equity
2) General Mills gives the following titles for these financial statements: * Balance Sheet: Consolidated Balance Sheet * Income Statement: Consolidated Statement of Earnings * Statement of Cash Flows: Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
3) Consolidated Definition: Consolidated Accounting includes 100% of the investee’s assets and liabilities on the investor’s balance sheet and 100% of the investee’s sales and expenses on its income statement. Specifically the consolidated balance sheet includes the gross assets and liabilities of the investee’s company, and the income statement includes the investee’s gross sales and expenses rather than just the investor’s share of the investee’s company’s net assets or income. All the intercompany sales and expenses are eliminated in the consolidation process to avoid double counting when, for example, goods are sold from the investee to the investor for resale to the parent’s ultimate customers.
c) U.S publicly traded firms must file financial accounting information with the Securities Exchange Commission. The two main compulsory filings are: * 10-K : The audited annual report that includes the four financial statements discussed above. * 10-Q : The unaudited quarterly report that includes summary versions of the four financial statements and limited additional disclosures. d) * The Management is responsible for the financial statements. The financial statements are generally