Page 5 - MAC4861_2 Finance class slides part 2

Analysis and interpretation of financial and non-financial information

Overview

• The first step towards a better understanding of this learning unit
is comprehension of the objective of financial analysis and

interpretation.

• This objective is to supply the users of an enterprise’s financial

and non-financial information with meaningful information, to
equip them to make informed decisions.

• Users include all stakeholders of the entity, such as the entity’s

own management, investors, financiers, suppliers, employees,
consumers, as well as the government and general public.

• Decisions made by these users include economic decisions (the
reason for the traditional focus on the analysis of financial
information), but also decisions linked to sustainability,

environmental, social and governance factors (one of the reasons
why, these days, non-financial information is starting to assume
more weight).

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