Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST)

Balance Sheet: Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity

Difficulty: Beginner

The balance sheet provides creditors, investors, and analysts with information on company’s resources (assets) and its sources of capital (its equity and liabilities). It normally also provides information about the future earnings capacity of a company’s assets as well as an indication of cash flows that may come from receivables and inventories.

Liabilities represents obligations of a company arising from past events, the settlement of which is expected to result in an outflow of economic benefits from the entity.

Costco Wholesale Corp., consolidated balance sheet: liabilities and stockholders’ equity

US$ in millions

		Sep 2, 2018		Sep 3, 2017		Aug 28, 2016		Aug 30, 2015		Aug 31, 2014		Sep 1, 2013
	Short-term borrowings
	Accounts payable
	Current portion of long-term debt
	Accrued salaries and benefits
	Accrued member rewards
	Deferred membership fees
	Other current liabilities
	Current liabilities
	Long-term debt, excluding current portion
	Other liabilities
	Non-current liabilities
	Total liabilities
	Preferred stock $.01 par value; no shares issued and outstanding
	Common stock $.01 par value
	Additional paid-in capital
	Accumulated other comprehensive loss
	Retained earnings
	Total Costco stockholders’ equity
	Noncontrolling interests
	Total equity
	Total liabilities and equity

Based on: 10-K (filing date: 2018-10-26), 10-K (filing date: 2017-10-18), 10-K (filing date: 2016-10-12), 10-K (filing date: 2015-10-14), 10-K (filing date: 2014-10-15), 10-K (filing date: 2013-10-16).

Balance sheet item	Description	The company
Current liabilities	Total obligations incurred as part of normal operations that are expected to be paid during the following twelve months or within one business cycle, if longer.	Costco Wholesale Corp.’s current liabilities increased from 2016 to 2017 and from 2017 to 2018.
Non-current liabilities	Amount of obligation due after one year or beyond the normal operating cycle, if longer.	Costco Wholesale Corp.’s non-current liabilities increased from 2016 to 2017 and from 2017 to 2018.
Total liabilities	Sum of the carrying amounts as of the balance sheet date of all liabilities that are recognized. Liabilities are probable future sacrifices of economic benefits arising from present obligations of an entity to transfer assets or provide services to other entities in the future.	Costco Wholesale Corp.’s total liabilities increased from 2016 to 2017 and from 2017 to 2018.
Total Costco stockholders’ equity	Total of all stockholders’ equity (deficit) items, net of receivables from officers, directors, owners, and affiliates of the entity which are attributable to the parent. The amount of the economic entity’s stockholders’ equity attributable to the parent excludes the amount of stockholders’ equity which is allocable to that ownership interest in subsidiary equity which is not attributable to the parent (noncontrolling interest, minority interest). This excludes temporary equity and is sometimes called permanent equity.	Costco Wholesale Corp.’s total Costco stockholders’ equity declined from 2016 to 2017 but then increased from 2017 to 2018 exceeding 2016 level.

	Costco Wholesale Corp.	Other companies (not purchased previously)
Financial Statements
Common-Size Financial Statements
Ratios
Relative Valuation
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Valuation
Economic Value Added (EVA)
Long-term Trends
Analysis
Financial Reporting Quality

	All companies
Financial Statements
Common-Size Financial Statements
Ratios
Relative Valuation
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Valuation
Economic Value Added (EVA)
Long-term Trends
Analysis
Financial Reporting Quality