The following are just several of the many websites that "give away" relatively sophisticated tools that can be used in planning and evaluating business operations:

• The Business Owner's Toolkit (http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/tools.asp). This site provides financial spreadsheet templates for managing the business, including the balance sheet, income statement, cash flows and related sensitivity analysis, trial balance, and a variety of checklists such as cost assessments, leasing, and start-up requirements.
• Excellence in Financial Management (hhttp://www.exinfm.com/free_spreadsheets.html). Excellence in Financial Management lists over thirty downloadable Excel spreadsheets useful in financial management, including files for ratio calculations, financial statement projections, cash flow analysis, and financial statements.
  
  
• BizStats (http://www.bizstats.com/). BizStats provides instant access to financial ratios and industry averages for small businesses across a wide range of manufacturing, retail, and service industries.
  
  
• EDGAR: A Database of Information about Public Companies (http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR website hosts a database of various required filings of publicly owned companies. One of the most detailed reports about a company is known as the Annual Report or Form 10-K. To access a company's Form 10-K, log on to the link listed above and type (in the box labeled Company Name) the name of a company in which you are interested. Select Find Companies. A new screen will appear-click on the 10-digit CIK (Central Index Key) number that appears to the left of the name of your selected company. A chronological list of recent filings will appear in a new screen. Scroll down until you find the most recently filed 10-K report. Click on HTML or TEXT to read the 10-K in the format you prefer. This resource will be useful to learn about different companies and to complete many assignments in this text.