Portfolio Project – Dell, Inc. The origins of Dell, Inc. date back over 25 years, when it was founded under the company name PC's Limited (Edwards, 2007) . This once small company began when founder Michael Dell began building personal computers for students at the University of Texas. Today, Dell has developed its product line to offer more than just computers; they also sell entertainment and office equipment. Dell's leadership, guided by the company's code of conduct, has shown a clear commitment to environmental issues and often publicizes ways the company has developed new techniques to reduce energy consumption and product waste ("Latest update", 2010). The main reason for Dell's success is its ability to manage the financial health of its company. This success is reflected in the company's financial statements. There are three main financial statements that should be evaluated to understand the financial status of a company: the balance sheet, the income statement, and the company's cash flow statement (Keown, Martin, & Petti, 2011). The balance sheet provides a snapshot of the company's financial position as of a particular date and includes information about the company's assets, liabilities, and net worth. This particular financial statement is an overview of what the business owns and what it owes (“A Beginner's Guide to Financial Statements,” 2007). An analysis of Dell's current balance sheet shows that they have approximately $40 million in assets, of which $29 million is current assets. This means that the firm expects to turn this amount of current assets into cash within the next 12 months (Keown, Martin, & Petty, 2011). Further analysis of Dell's financial statements reveals that the first... half of the document......1087&p=irol-reportsAnnualKeown, A.J., Martin, J.D., & Petty, J.W. (2011). Fundamentals of Finance: The Logic and Practice of Financial Management (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Latest update on Dell's corporate responsibility progress. (2010, October). Retrieved from http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/corp-comm/cr-newsletter.aspxLoan Rates. (n.d.). Omniglot. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/info-articles/chicago/loans-rates.htmlOgg, J.C. (2011, January 27). New candidates for 2011 dividends from giant companies. Wall Street 24/7. Retrieved from http://247wallst.com/2011/01/27/2011s-new-dividend- -from-giant-companies-amgn-brk-a-dell-ebay -emc-kss-csco-aapl/2/Peavler , R. (n.d.). Use profitability ratios in the analysis of financial ratios. About.com. Retrieved from http://bizfinance.about.com/od/financialratios/a/Profitability_Ratios.htm