7.4 a. Assume that Beverly Enterprises and Manor Care, two operators

of nursing homes, have ?scal years that end at different times:say,

one in June and one in December. Would this fact cause any

problems when comparing ratios between the two companies?

b. Assume that two companies that operate walk-in clinics both

had the same December year end, but one was based in Aspen,

Colorado, a winter resort, while the other operated in Cape Cod,

Massachusetts, a summer resort. Would this lead to problems in a

comparative analysis?

17.6 a. What is the difference between trend analysis and comparative

analysis?

b. Which one is more important?