Consider the following brief descriptions of four companies, listed alphabetically, from different industries. Six Flags, Inc. operates regional theme parks. It operates 17 parks in the United States, one in Mexico, and one in Canada. Toll Brothers, Inc., is a homebuilder. In 2010 it had almost 35,000 home sites in 407 communities. Toys R Us, Inc. is the well known, international retailer of toys. Vail Resorts, Inc., operates several ski resorts in Colorado, including Vail Mountain, the largest in the United States, and Breckenridge Mountain Resort. The chapter explained that companies often choose to close their books when business is slow. Each of these companies ends its fiscal year on a different date. The closing dates, listed chronologically, are as follows: January 31
July 31
October 31
December 31
Required:
a. Try to determine which fiscal year end matches which company. Write a grief explanation of the reason for your decisions.
b. Because many companies deliberately choose to prepare their financial statements at a slow time of year, try to identify problems this may present for someone trying to analyze the balance sheet for Michaels Stores. Write a brief explanation of the issues you identify.