财务报表与商业决策¶
Le-Nature’s Inc. designed its business strategy to ride the growing wave of interest in noncarbonated beverages. And apparently its strategy was a huge success. Its financial statements reported growth in sales from $156 to $275 million in just three years. How did this small family-run business compete with the likes of Coke and Pepsi in this growing market? The business press suggested the first key to its success was manufacturing a broad range of products that fit into the fastest growing “healthy” segments: flavored waters, teas, and fruit drinks. Founder and CEO Gregory Podlucky said that an obsessive drive for quality and efficiency was just as critical. Matching customers’ concerns for the environment and healthy living, Le-Nature’s was praised as one of the first companies to switch to environmentally friendlier PET plastic bottles and to employ safe in-bottle pasteurization. Its 21st-century manufacturing operation in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, produced everything that goes into its products, from the injection-molded PET bottles to the final packaging. Complete control over the whole process assures quality and provides the flexibility to respond quickly to changes in customers’ demands. When convenience stores moved to larger-sized drinks or school cafeterias switched from carbonated beverages to healthier drinks, Le-Nature’s could change its production to meet the customers’ needs. The company even opened a second new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Arizona to meet the apparent growing demand.
Le-Nature’s 公司将其经营策略瞄准了日益增长的非碳酸饮料市场。显然，这一策略获得了巨大成功：其财务报表显示，三年内销售额从1.56亿美元增长到2.75亿美元。这家由家族经营的小企业是如何在这个不断扩大的市场中，与可口可乐、百事可乐等巨头竞争的呢？商界媒体指出，成功的第一个关键是生产多样化的产品线，切入增长最快的“健康”细分市场：调味水、茶饮和果汁饮料。创办人兼首席执行官格雷戈里·波德拉基（Gregory Podlucky）表示，对质量和效率近乎痴迷的追求同样至关重要。为了迎合顾客对环保与健康生活的关切，Le-Nature’s 被赞为最早改用更环保的 PET 塑料瓶并采用瓶内安全巴氏杀菌处理的公司之一。它位于宾夕法尼亚州拉特罗布的现代化生产线，从注塑成型的 PET 瓶到最终包装，所有投入产品的部件一应俱全。对整个流程的完全控制既确保了质量，也提供了在顾客需求变化时快速应对的灵活性。当便利店开始销售大容量饮料，或学校食堂由碳酸饮料改为更健康的饮品时，Le-Nature’s 能调整产线以满足这些需求。公司甚至在亚利桑那新建了第二家最先进的制造工厂，以应对看似不断增长的市场需求。
But here is the twist: Just three short months later, investigators discovered that Le-Nature’s phenomenal sales growth was more fiction than fact. How could this apparent success story portrayed in the financial statements really be one of the most remarkable frauds in history?
但事情出现了转折：仅仅三个月后，调查人员发现 Le-Nature’s 那惊人的销售增长更多是虚构而非事实。报表中描绘的这出表面成功的故事，怎么会是真正的历史性诈骗案之一呢？
Chapter 1 concentrates on the key financial statements that businesspeople rely upon when they evaluate a company’s performance as well as the importance of accu- rate financial statements in making our economic system work. We discuss these issues in the context of Le-Nature’s rise and fall.
第一章聚焦于商界人士在评估公司绩效时所倚重的关键财务报表，以及准确财务报表对维系我们经济体系正常运作的重要性。我们将在 Le-Nature’s 兴衰的背景下讨论这些问题。
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
- Recognize the information conveyed in each of the four basic financial statements and the way that it is used by different decision makers (investors, creditors, and managers). p. 6
- Identify the role of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in determining financial statement content and managers’, directors’, and auditors’ responsibilities for ensuring the accuracy of the financial statements. p.17
Accounting knowledge will be valuable to you only if you can apply it in the real world. Learning is also easier when it takes place in real contexts. So at the beginning of each chapter, we always provide some background about the business that will pro- vide the context for the chapter discussion.
会计知识的价值体现于现实
UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS¶
Le-Nature’s Inc., our focus company for this chapter, was founded by Gregory Pod- lucky and his brother Jonathan, who initially were the sole owners or stockholders of the company. They were also the managers of the company. Using expertise gained working at their parents’ brewery (Stoney’s Beer), the brothers were early believers in the trend toward healthier, noncarbonated beverages. Like most entrepreneurs, their growth ambitions quickly outpaced their own financial resources. So they turned to banks, including Wells Fargo Bank and other lenders, to finance additional manufactur- ing facilities and equipment. Different units of Wells Fargo continued to arrange lend- ing to Le-Nature’s as the need arose, becoming its largest lender or creditor. Creditors make money on the loans by charging interest. The Podluckys also convinced others to buy stock in Le-Nature’s. These individuals became part owners or stockholders along with the Podluckys. The stockholders hoped to receive a portion of what the company earned in the form of cash payments called dividends and to eventually sell their share of the company at a higher price than they paid. Creditors are more willing to lend and stock prices usually rise when creditors and investors expect the company to do well in the future. Both groups estimate future performance, in part, based on information in the company’s financial statements.