Analysis of Equity, Cash Flows and NotesIntroductionThe success of a business entity depends on its ability to correctly create, understand and analyze statements financial. Analyzing financial statements is important for understanding the profitability and financial position of a company. These documents help a business in many ways, such as making better financial decisions and creating a clearer picture to attract creditors and investors. In highlighting Wal-Mart's financial figures, Team A will discuss the owner's equity and cash flow elements of the business ending January 31, 2004. Supporting explanatory notes will help provide the analysis needed to understand the business. and to express our position in support of Wal-Mart's philosophy that makes it a thriving business. . The statement begins with the amount of shareholders' equity on a given balance sheet date and summarizes the additions and subtractions from that amount over a specific period of time. The statement of owners' equity reports both changes in the owners' investments in the business and changes in the company's retained earnings. Another important function of this statement is to link the income statement to the balance sheet. The statement of shareholders' equity is generally the shortest and least complicated of the financial statements. The most common change is the retained earnings account. If the company makes a profit, retained earnings increase unless all profits are paid out as dividends or withdrawals by the owners. The two accounts that normally appear on this statement are......in the middle of the paper statements......l-Mart, please note that the financial information for all years has been restated to reflect the sale of McLane Company, Inc.. occurred during the 2004 financial year. They are presented as a discontinued operation in the cash flow statement. Other information includes items that reflect any accounting changes. In fiscal year 2003, Wal-Mart adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 142, ¡§Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets.¡¨ In previous years, they had recorded an amortization expense related to goodwill. This is a way of explaining changes that can be observed in the numbers but are not so obvious.Table 1Table 2ReferencesMarshall, D. (2003). Accounting: What the Numbers Mean, Sixth Addition. The McGraw Hill Companies. Wal-Mart Annual Report. (2004). Retrieved May 17, 2004, from the World Wide Web at https://www.walmart.com.