Choose comparable documents
Start with the official filing and its notes. Check whether figures are consolidated or standalone, quarterly or year-to-date. Comparing different reporting periods can create a change that does not represent business performance.
Read the three statements together
Ask AI to organize the information while preserving definitions and units. The goal is to make the documents easier to understand, not to replace verification.
- Income statement: what explains revenue, costs, expenses and profit for the period?
- Balance sheet: how did assets, obligations and equity change?
- Cash flow: how much came from operations and how much went to investing and financing?
Ask a complete question
A useful prompt is: “Compare revenue and operating cash flow for the company’s last two reported financial years. Give the currency, scale, period and source document for each figure. Explain differences without assigning causes the source does not establish.” This is a sample research question, not an analysis already produced.
Look at the notes and differences
Changes in consolidation, acquisitions, reclassifications and non-recurring items can affect comparability. Ask where these are documented. Banks, insurers and industrial businesses also require different measures: one ratio cannot explain every business.
Continue with explicit limits
Start with public asset pages and explore the Asset Dossier to learn about deeper research in Compound. If a filing or period is unavailable, keep that limitation visible. This educational process does not recommend a transaction or determine suitability.