This section deals with sources for financial information for a company as well as a few sources that can be used to compare and benchmark companies to their industry. Also, databases and sources for investment information can be helpful because they often contain financial information presented in a concise form.

Financial information can be found on the company's web page in Investor Relations where Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other company reports are often kept. The SEC has financial filings electronically available beginning in 1993/1994 free on their website. See EDGAR: Company Filings.

If you need to look for historical financial information on a public company keep in mind that the (SEC) did not start requiring companies to submit their filings electronically until 1994 (though there are some from 1993). Prior to that it will be necessary to consult paper copies or subscription based services from Thomson Reuters and Mergent Archives historical SEC fillings module (eventually will add all filings they have at their disposal, but currently only has 10Ks). The Library of Congress has a microfiche set covering the years 1978-1995.

Follow the Money

The detailed financial information for public companies comes from SEC filings. There are several filings that may be of interest, but the 10K and 10Q are the most common for this type of information. However, there are a few parts of the filings in particular in terms of content and what data may be found there. Each section contains very different information. This is just a quick overview for purposes of this guide, not a detailed or complete rundown.

Balance Sheet

The Balance sheet contains information on assets like goodwill, inventories, intangibles, accounts receivable, PP&E (property, plant & equipment), etc. and liabilities like tax information, accounts payable, financing, etc. See Investopedia External or the Accounting Coach External for information.

Income Statement

The Income statement contains information on revenue, expenses, R&D, marketing and SG&A (sales and general expenses). See Investopedia, External and TheStreet.com External have more information.

Cash Flow

The Cash Flow statement contains information on operations, inventory, financing, investments. Investopedia has a section in their "Introduction to Fundamental Analysis" devoted to the Cash Flow statement. External It includes general information and a sample.

Financial Footnotes

Financial footnotes give explanations as to accounting practices and other information to explain how they accounted for various elements in their financial statements. Investopedia includes a section devoted to Financial Footnotes. External

If you want to know more about the financial information in those filings, Investopedia has an Introduction to Fundamental Analysis External with information on many aspects of financial statements--Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, etc., and the Fool.com has Intro to SEC Forms External with links to information on the various aspects of the financial statements, some of which require registration. The Securities and Exchange Commission also offers an online filings search and a description of the various SEC filings [PDF].

Stock Prices

There are a number of databases that have stock prices, below is what the Library has access to but check you public or university library for other options.

If you are looking for stock buy-back, detailed information on it will be found in Proxy statements if it has to get shareholder approval. If the company Board has sole discretion, look for the appropriate 8K.