Research Guides: ACC341 Intermediate Accounting I: Industry/Company/Demographics

Government Agencies

NAICS Search

North American Industry Classification System
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.

Search ABI/Inform Complete

ABI/INFORM Collection
Select the Advanced Search option to focus your search on specific types of information such as company, location, code, annual report, etc.
You can also select Business from the Search Subject Areas to do likewise. To further customize your search you can select from the menu of Data and Report Types.

Company Information Resources

Value Line Library Elite
Value Line provides a wealth of in-depth financial information, including compendium of current and historical market and financial data spanning thousands of U.S. companies, mutual funds and other securities, industry sectors, indices and economic variables, the Timeliness™ ranking system—an “at-a-glance” prognosticator of 6-12 month relative price performance for approximately 1,700 actively traded U.S. stocks, ranging from 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest), plus commentary and insights on companies, industries, markets and the economy.

Search for Company Information

Under the BROWSE RESEARCH tab, Enter the ticker, company, or industry name and click on the suggested name that populates
Click on PDF Reports and select a date to view a detailed report

Thomson Reuters Westlaw
Thomson Reuters Westlaw provides access to primary resources (federal/state statutes, regulations and codes, federal/state cases, including U.S. Supreme Court cases, briefs, petitions for writ of certiorari). Also included are proposed and enacted legislation (public laws, congressional bills). Secondary sources such as American Law Reports, American Jurisprudence 2d, law reviews and journals, treatises as well as secondary sources specific to each state. Unique to WestLaw is the West Key Number System and KeyCite to facilitate sherardizing. News topics cover business, health, legal, U.S. and international news, media, technology, education, environment, transportation, and public affairs.

Search for information on your company:

Click on Company Investigator
Under Other Business Reports click on Hoover's Company Profiles
Search by company name or ticker symbol
Scroll down the page to the find the company overview and history of the company

Business Market Research Collection
Conduct company, industry, economic and geopolitical market research with information from these sources: Hoover's Company Profiles - information about more than 40,000 global public and non-public companies including location, financials, competitors, officers, and more; OxResearch - succinct articles covering regional economic and political developments of significance from a network of 1,000 faculty members at Oxford, other leading universities, and think-tanks; Snapshots - market research overviews on 40+ industries and 40 countries.

Search for Company Information

Click on Advanced Search and change the drop-down box from Anywhere to Ticker symbol - TKS
Enter your company's ticker symbol in the search box and click Search
If your company is found, click on the your company's name to open the report.

International Directory of Company Histories by Gale (Editor)
Call Number: REF HD2721 .I63 v.1-date
This multi-volume work is the first major reference to bring together histories of companies that are a leading influence in a particular industry or geographic location. The Madigan Library has these volumes in print in the Reference Collection as well as available electronically through the link below to Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Gale eBooks
Full-text articles from multi-volume encyclopedias, biographical collections, business plan handbooks, company history compilations, consumer health references, and specialized reference sources. Most subjects are covered.

Search for International Directory of Company Histories

In GVRL, enter the name of your company in the search box
After you see your list of results, look along the right-hand menu and look for the heading Publication Title
Find the title International Directory of Company Histories and click on it then click Apply
You should now see results that are only within this publication. You can use the titles of the articles to look for an overview of your company, or you can use the heading Subjects along the right to see if your company is listed there
If you find an overview of your company, click on the PDF link to view the article.

Google Finance
Business information, news and interactive charts
Investopedia
Investopedia offers an abundance of financial content, from articles, dictionary terms, tutorials and video, to frequently asked questions and exam prep quizzes.
Yahoo! Finance: Industry Center
A rich source of financial information with company profiles, SEC filings, annual reports, stock quotes, news, analysis, industry statistics and news, and information for investors. Historical quotes for stocks, bonds, and money markets are since 1970 and give daily, weekly, and monthly closing prices and dividends. Also see "Industry Browser" under "Tools" which allows you to browse industries by performance rankings, including ROE, P/E ratio, market cap, price change, price to book value, profit margin, price to book value, long term debt, and more. Enter your company symbol and click "View Industry".

Evaluate the Company (company comparisons and ratios included)

Morningstar Investment Research Center
Morningstar Investment Research Center provides comprehensive data and independent analysis on thousands of investments, spanning mutual funds, stocks, exchange-traded funds, and closed-end funds.

Find Ratios

Enter your company's name or ticker symbol and select it from the list of suggested companies
Click on Key Ratios to get profitability, growth, cash flow, financial health, and efficiency ratios

RMA Annual Statement Studies: Financial Ratio Benchmarks by Risk Management Association
Call Number: Ref HF5681 .B2 R6 2019 v.1-2
Publication Date: 2019-2020
Financial Ratio Benchmarks includes: Nineteen classic financial statement ratios, clearly defined; common-size balance-sheet and income-statement line items, arrayed by asset and sales size; six different asset and sales size categories are presented to ensure a perfect match to your situation; more than 780 industries are presented using the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes; and data available for four years--you’ll get the most up-to-date information for the current period, and you’ll be able to quickly compare it to the past four periods.

Frequently Asked Questions Annual Statement Studies

Financial Ratio Benchmarks: Definition of Ratios
Sample of Financial Ratio Benchmarks
Mapping for 2012 NAICS to 2017 NAICS
The government changed the standardized codes. This file is provided for those who need to easily compare codes before and after the 2017 revision.

Industry Classification Systems
Industry classification or industry taxonomy organizes companies into industrial groupings based on similar production processes, similar products, or similar behavior in financial markets.

Zacks.com: Stock Research & Ratings
A leading investment research firm focusing on equities earnings estimates and stock analysis for the individual investor.

Find Ratios

Enter your company's ticker symbol and choose it from the suggested companies
Along the left-hand side menu, click on Financial Overview under the Financial heading

Note: It appears that only the last year is available.

Fortune 500
Companies are ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years. Included in the survey are companies that are incorporated in the U.S. and operate in the U.S. and file financial statements with a government agency. This includes private companies and cooperatives that file a 10-K or a comparable financial statement with a government agency, and mutual insurance companies that file with state regulators. It also includes companies that file with a government agency but are owned by private companies, domestic or foreign, that do not file such financial statements. Excluded are private companies not filing with a government agency; companies incorporated outside the U.S.; and U.S. companies owned or controlled by other companies, domestic or foreign, that file with a government agency. Also excluded are companies that failed to report full financial statements for at least three quarters of the current fiscal year. Percent change calculations for revenues, net income, and earnings per share are based on data as originally reported. They are not restated for mergers, acquisitions, or accounting changes. The only changes to the prior years’ data are for significant restatement due to reporting errors that require a company to file an amended 10-K.
Forbes Global 2000
We compile our Global 2000 list by screening Interactive Data, Thomson Reuters Fundamentals and Worldscope databases via FactSet Research Systems FDS +1.48% for publicly traded companies. Using these databases as our primary sources of data, we screen for the biggest companies in four metrics; sales, profits, assets and market value. Our market value calculation is as of March 15 closing prices, including all common shares outstanding.

Compare your company to the industry as well as it's competitors using the resources on this page within this guide:

Industry & Company Comparison Resources

Journal, magazine, and newspaper articles are a great source of information on industries. They are current and contain news on specific companies as well as industries as a whole. Included on this page are a list of recommended databases you can use to find these types of articles. Use the following page within this guide to find these articles:

Industry Information from Articles

Industry/Company/Demographics Information

U.S. Census Bureau
Provides statistical resources for people and households, business and industry, and geography. Included are links to state and county QuickFacts and Statistical Abstract of the United States.
Pennsylvania QuickFacts
Quick links from the U.S. Census Bureau providing various Pennsylvania demographics.

ABI/INFORM Collection
The most comprehensive database including ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade and Industry, and ABI/INFORM Dateline. The database features thousands of full-text journals, dissertations, working papers, key business and economics periodicals such as the Economist, country-and industry-focused reports, and downloadable data. Its international coverage gives researchers a complete picture of companies and business trends around the world.

Company websites and annual reports

Yet another source of company information is a company's own website. There you may find all kinds of company information such as history, locations, products and services, executives and staffing, including links to annual reports, 10-K reports, market reports, research and development, etc.. Information from private companies, especially small private companies may be difficult to find since they are not required to disclose detailed financial information. Look for the Annual Report to Shareholders on the company web site which will provide basic financials and forecast future directions for the company.