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CHAPTER 4 • THE INTERNAL ASSESSMENT 107

TABLE 4-5 Excellent Web Sites to Obtain
Information on Companies,
Including Financial Ratios

http://marketwatch.multexinvestor.com
http://moneycentral.msn.com
http://finance.yahoo.com
www.clearstation.com
https://us.etrade.com/e/t/invest/markets
www.hoovers.com

Especially good Web sites from which to obtain financial information about firms are
provided in Table 4-5.

Finance/Accounting Functions
According to James Van Horne, the functions of finance/accounting comprise three deci-
20
sions: the investment decision, the financing decision, and the dividend decision. Financial
ratio analysis is the most widely used method for determining an organization’s strengths and
weaknesses in the investment, financing, and dividend areas. Because the functional areas of
business are so closely related, financial ratios can signal strengths or weaknesses in manage-
ment, marketing, production, research and development, and management information
systems activities. It is important to note here that financial ratios are equally applicable in
for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Even though nonprofit organizations obviously would
not have return-on-investment or earnings-per-share ratios, they would routinely monitor
many other special ratios. For example, a church would monitor the ratio of dollar contribu-
tions to number of members, while a zoo would monitor dollar food sales to number of
visitors. A university would monitor number of students divided by number of professors.
Therefore, be creative when performing ratio analysis for nonprofit organizations because
they strive to be financially sound just as for-profit firms do.
The investment decision, also called capital budgeting, is the allocation and realloca-
tion of capital and resources to projects, products, assets, and divisions of an organization.
Once strategies are formulated, capital budgeting decisions are required to successfully
implement strategies. The financing decision determines the best capital structure for the
firm and includes examining various methods by which the firm can raise capital (for
example, by issuing stock, increasing debt, selling assets, or using a combination of these
approaches). The financing decision must consider both short-term and long-term needs
for working capital. Two key financial ratios that indicate whether a firm’s financing deci-
sions have been effective are the debt-to-equity ratio and the debt-to-total-assets ratio.
Dividend decisions concern issues such as the percentage of earnings paid to stockhold-
ers, the stability of dividends paid over time, and the repurchase or issuance of stock. Dividend
decisions determine the amount of funds that are retained in a firm compared to the amount
paid out to stockholders. Three financial ratios that are helpful in evaluating a firm’s dividend
decisions are the earnings-per-share ratio, the dividends-per-share ratio, and the price-earnings
ratio. The benefits of paying dividends to investors must be balanced against the benefits of
internally retaining funds, and there is no set formula on how to balance this trade-off. For the
reasons listed here, dividends are sometimes paid out even when funds could be better rein-
vested in the business or when the firm has to obtain outside sources of capital:
1. Paying cash dividends is customary. Failure to do so could be thought of as
a stigma. A dividend change is considered a signal about the future.
2. Dividends represent a sales point for investment bankers. Some institutional
investors can buy only dividend-paying stocks.
3. Shareholders often demand dividends, even in companies with great opportunities
for reinvesting all available funds.
4. A myth exists that paying dividends will result in a higher stock price.