Dear Fumi,

Thank you for your sixth message sent on > Date: 19 Jun 98 11:54:06.

This is the third of three messages from me this week. The first and

third messages are my reply to your sixth message. The second message

is a list of the URLs of the lessons we sent.

> Dear Dr. M. Susan Stiner,

>

> Thank you so much for your reply to my fifth message.

> I suppose you had a great time with your family last weekend.

I did! The weather was great for driving. My sister and I chit-chatted

almost the entire way there and back. My parents and uncle were in good

health. We saw all our old "haunts" when we were growing up and I

renewed an acquaintance with an old schoolmate. I could hardly ask for

a better trip.

> Let me answer the questions in the homework.

> Q1. The balance sheet is the statement of a business' financial

> position. It provides a snapshot of a business' health at a

> point in time. It is a summary of what the business owns(assets)

> and owes(liabilities). Balance sheets are usually prepared at

> the close of an accounting period such as month-end, quarter-end,

> or year-end. In conjunction with other financial statements, it

> forms the basis for more sophisticated analysis of the business.

> The Balance Sheet is also a tool to evaluate a company's flexibility

> and liquidity.

Correct.

Fumi, your English is so good that I can't tell whether you composed

this yourself, or copied from another source. I assume you composed it.

With English facility such as yours, I assume that you plan to use your

skills in a job. I assume also that you will interact with Westerners

in writing and speaking. One big cultural difference I've noticed

between Japan and the U.S. is the citing of sources in technical

writing. The U.S., and other Western countries, encourage technically

accurate original compositions. In the writing, sometimes it is

necessary to use someone else's words. When that is done, we insist on

being told publication data for the source, so that we can check on the

accuracy of the interpretation or quote. Sometimes we simply want to

know more of what that source says on a particular subject. A paradigm

of U.S. business thinkers is that more recent information is usually

more valuable than older information. Information changes so quickly

these days that info is often outdated before it is published. That is

especially true in tax. Readers need to evaluate the source for

relevance.

So, when you write for Westerners, make sure you cite your sources,

especially if you quote something. There are complex rules for citing

printed sources. So far, it is much easier to cite Internet sources.

Copy and paste the complete URL, and state the date and time you

obtained the URL. As far as this course goes, you need not cite any

sources unless I specifically ask you to do so, or unless you quote

something that someone else wrote.

> Q2. Stockholders' equity is the investment by the owner plus any profits

> or minus any losses that have accumulated in the business.

Don't forget that stockholders' equity also includes reductions for

withdrawals of assets by the owners (dividends).

So there are four components to stockholders' equity (SE):

A. Increases to SE:

1. contributions of capital by the owners

2. net income (or revenue)

B. Decreases to SE:

1. withdrawals of assets by the owners (dividends)

2. net losses (or expenses)

> Q3. Japanese translation for these words.

Thanks for your list of accounting terms in Japanese.

> That's all. Thank you for reading it all.

No problem!

>

>

> Best regards,

> Fumi

Today (Sunday) is Father's Day in the U.S. You can learn more about

Father's Day at this site:

Sincerely,

Prof. M. Susan Stiner