ABSTRACT
So far we have tended to concentrate on analysing the business as one complete entity but most companies are made up of many products (that is, goods and services) sold in various markets by different sales people, via different channels of distribution in varying order quantities to customers with different requirements. If our financial analysis is to be of any help as a basis for internal planning it must match the way in which the activities are conducted and the organization is structured, and the appropriate marketing segments must be examined. The analytical techniques and financial ratios applied to internally produced financial information are largely the same for parts of the organization as those applied to the group as a whole, for which the externally published financial statements are produced. It is also important that the impact of marketing strategies in each area of the business and the relative productivity of alternative marketing activities are fully analysed to see how effective the current allocation of marketing resources is. This enables the planning process to build on the best available internal information but, to be of use in planning, any externally based analysis (such as competitor or acquisition analysis) utilizing published financial statements also requires a careful marketing focus (such as competitor and market analysis), which means coordinating all the various available sources of information, in addition to the published financial statements.
