How to Read an Annual Report for a Case Study: Where Each Figure Lives and How to Cite It

This guide is for a student who has a case study, a SWOT or a financial analysis to write and has been told to use the company's own reports. It shows which document to open, where each figure sits inside it, what the fiscal year and the audited basis do to a comparison, and how to reference the filing in Harvard.

Six examples run through it. Four are mistakes that are easy to make and hard to spot: a product filed under the wrong revenue line, a segment loss quoted without the sentence that explains it, a standalone cash-flow statement printed beside consolidated accounts, and an announced profit taken for the audited one. The other two turn a SWOT bullet from opinion into evidence. Each is checked against the filing it comes from, listed under Sources, and links to the sample on this site that uses the right reading.

The page does no ratio work. That is in our financial analysis sample on Godrej Properties, which does it on one set of consolidated statements. This guide sits in our MBA assignment samples and our study guides, and the MBA assignment help page explains how we work on a case study brief.

Which Document Do You Use: The Annual Report, the 10-K or the Press Release?

Use the audited filing: the Form 10-K for a US company, the Annual Report and Accounts for a UK company, the consolidated statements in an Indian annual report, and the Form 20-F for a Japanese company that files with the SEC. The results press release comes first but is unaudited, so it cross-checks the year's result rather than sourcing it.

The SEC's own investor bulletin draws the US distinction. There is "a lot of overlap" between the 10-K and the annual report to shareholders, but the 10-K "typically includes more detailed information", and some companies simply send their 10-K as the annual report. Every 10-K is on the SEC's EDGAR site; non-US companies usually file their annual reports with the SEC on different forms (SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, no date).

Alphabet's fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results were issued on 4 February 2026 as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K, and its tables are headed "unaudited" (Alphabet Inc., 2026b). The 10-K, with the auditor's report, was filed the next day (Alphabet Inc., 2026a). A press release is the right source for the date something was announced and for the company's framing of a quarter, and the wrong source for a year's audited result; the section on announced and audited figures below shows how far the two can sit apart.

A UK listed company publishes an Annual Report and Accounts. The front half is the strategic report, which the Companies Act 2006 requires. The Financial Reporting Council's guidance says it "must provide a fair review of the company's business, which is a balanced and comprehensive analysis of the development and performance of the business in the financial year and of its position at the end of that year", and asks for the principal risks and uncertainties to be described specifically enough for shareholders to see why they matter (Financial Reporting Council, 2026, paragraphs 8.3 and 9.16). The audited statements and their notes follow.

An Indian annual report carries two sets of statements. Section 129(3) of the Companies Act 2013, as amended, requires a company with subsidiaries or associates to prepare "a consolidated financial statement of the company and of all the subsidiaries and associate companies in the same form and manner as that of its own", in addition to its own financial statements, and to lay both before the annual general meeting (Government of India, 2013). So the report prints the parent's standalone statements and the group's consolidated statements, often with a summary table showing both, and the Godrej and OYO examples below show why a case study uses the consolidated set.

A Japanese company can have three documents in play. Toyota's financial summary for the year to 31 March 2026, dated 8 May 2026, is an "English translation from the original Japanese-language document" and heads its statements "Unaudited" (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2026a). Its annual securities report was filed in Japan on 10 June 2026 and appears only in its Japanese-language investor library (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2026c). The Form 20-F filed with the SEC the same day carries the auditor's report and statements "prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards", so for an English-language assignment it is the document to cite (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2026b).

Where Do You Find the Figures in a 10-K?

The figures sit in four parts of the filing. Item 1, Business, describes the segments and, at Alphabet, the headcount. Item 1A lists the risk factors. Item 7, the MD&A, explains the year's numbers in management's words. Item 8 holds the audited statements and notes, where the revenue and segment notes give figures by product line and region.

Where each figure lives: a 10-K against a UK or Indian annual report

Point of comparison	In a 10-K	In a UK or Indian annual report
Revenue by segment or product line	In a 10-K Item 8, the revenue and segment notes (Alphabet: Notes 2 and 15); commentary in Item 7	In a UK or Indian annual report The segmental note (Next: Note 1; OYO: note 46, one segment, India and outside India)
Operating profit by segment	In a 10-K The segment table in Item 7, repeated in Item 8 (Alphabet: Note 15)	In a UK or Indian annual report Segment profit in the same segmental note (Next: Note 1)
Headcount	In a 10-K Item 1, Business (Alphabet: 'Culture and Workforce')	In a UK or Indian annual report A staff-costs note (Next: Note 4)
Principal risks	In a 10-K Item 1A, Risk Factors	In a UK or Indian annual report The strategic report's principal risks section (Companies Act 2006 s.414C)
Cash from operations	In a 10-K The statement of cash flows in Item 8	In a UK or Indian annual report The consolidated cash flow statement and its note (Next: Note 33); in India, the consolidated statement, not the standalone one
Commitments and contingent liabilities	In a 10-K The contractual obligations table in Item 7; the commitments note in Item 8 (Netflix: Note 9)	In a UK or Indian annual report A contingent liabilities note (Next: Note 35); a contingencies and commitments note (OYO: note 36)

The SEC bulletin adds two things worth carrying with you: "companies generally list the risk factors in order of their importance", and Item 7 "allows company management to tell its story in its own words", which is why a number from a table is not complete until you have read the paragraph about it (SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, no date).

Alphabet's 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025 shows the pattern. Item 1 reports Google as two segments, Google Services and Google Cloud, with the other businesses grouped as Other Bets, and gives the headcount, 190,820 employees at 31 December 2025, under "Culture and Workforce". Note 1 lists what each revenue line consists of. Note 2 gives revenue by type and by geography: Google subscriptions, platforms and devices is 48,030 million dollars and Google Cloud 58,705 million, out of a total of 402,836 million. Item 7 gives operating income by segment and Note 15 repeats it (Alphabet Inc., 2026a). The segment table gives you the number; the paragraph under it gives you the reason.

Worked Mistake 1: A Product Filed Under the Wrong Revenue Line (Alphabet, FY2025)

"Google Workspace is sold by subscription, so its revenue sits in the Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices line." The name of the line invites that sentence, and Note 1 of the 10-K, in its revenue recognition policy, rules it out. That line consists of consumer subscriptions, "which primarily include revenues from YouTube services, such as YouTube TV, YouTube Music and Premium, and NFL Sunday Ticket, as well as Google One", platforms, "which primarily include revenues from Google Play sales of apps and in-app purchases", devices, "which primarily include sales of the Pixel family of devices", and other products and services. Further down, under Google Cloud, the same note lists Google Workspace beside Google Cloud Platform and other enterprise services (Alphabet Inc., 2026a). So the 48,030 million dollar line is mainly YouTube subscriptions, Google One, Play and Pixel, and Workspace's subscriptions are inside the 58,705 million dollar Cloud line, as our product-level SWOT analysis of Google and group-level SWOT analysis of Alphabet both report. Read a note's list of what a line consists of before you assign a product to it, because the name of a line is not its definition.

Worked Mistake 2: A Loss Quoted Without the MD&A Sentence That Explains It (Alphabet, Other Bets FY2025)

Take the sentence "Other Bets lost 7.5 billion dollars in 2025, up from 4.4 billion, so the business is getting worse." The numbers are right: the segment table in Item 7 gives an operating loss of 7,515 million dollars against 4,444 million in 2024, a loss about 69 percent wider. The reading is not. The executive overview near the start of Item 7 gives the context in one bullet: "Other Bets operating loss of $7.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2025 included a $2.1 billion employee compensation charge recognized in the fourth quarter for Waymo, primarily reflected in research and development expenses, based on estimated stock valuation". The segment paragraph under the table adds that the 3.1 billion dollar increase was "primarily driven by an increase in employee compensation expenses largely due to an increase in a valuation-based compensation charge related to Waymo" (Alphabet Inc., 2026a). The results press release of 4 February 2026 reports the same charge (Alphabet Inc., 2026b). A weakness bullet that quotes the loss should carry that clause. Our SWOT analysis of Alphabet quotes the loss in its weaknesses and gives the Waymo charge under opportunities; in your own version, put the two in one sentence. A figure from a segment table is not finished until you have found its paragraph in the MD&A.

How Do You Read a UK, Indian or Japanese Annual Report?

Find the same things in a different order. A UK Annual Report and Accounts opens with the strategic report, which holds the fair review and the principal risks; the segment and employee notes follow the statements. An Indian annual report prints standalone and consolidated statements: use the consolidated set. A Japanese SEC filer gives you an English Form 20-F.

The Next plc Annual Report and Accounts for the year to January 2026 shows the UK layout. The six reportable segments, from Retail stores to Total Platform, are in Note 1, Segmental Analysis. Average employees are in Note 4, Staff Costs: 48,827 in the year. Cash is in the consolidated cash flow statement and Note 33: cash generated from operations of 1,466.7 million pounds and net cash from operating activities of 1,233.6 million after tax. Contingent liabilities are Note 35 (NEXT plc, 2026). The statement headings read "53 weeks to 31 January 2026" against "52 weeks to 25 January 2025", which is the fiscal-year trap covered below. Our Boohoo versus Next comparison works from Next's results statement for the same period, on the 52-week basis; the notes above are in the annual report.

An Indian annual report runs to 31 March, prints two sets of statements, and states its unit at the head of each. OYO's are headed "Amount in INR Millions, unless stated otherwise" (Oravel Stays Limited, 2025); Godrej Properties' are "Currency in INR Crore" (Godrej Properties Limited, 2024). One crore is ten million, so 2,448.22 million rupees is about 245 crore, and a case study that mixes the two units without saying so will not reconcile. The standalone set is the parent alone; the consolidated set is the group.

Toyota's year also runs to 31 March, and its labels run a year ahead of the calendar: the Form 20-F says Toyota "sold 9,595 thousand vehicles in fiscal 2026", which is April 2025 to March 2026 (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2026b), and our Toyota case study says which year each figure belongs to.

Worked Mistake 3: A Standalone Cash-Flow Statement Beside Consolidated Accounts (Godrej Properties, FY2023-24)

The wrong version reads: "Net cash from operating activities was only 179.51 crore rupees in FY 2023-24 against a profit of 747.06 crore, so the company turned about a quarter of its profit into cash." Both numbers are in Godrej Properties' Integrated Report 2023-24, but not in the same set of statements. The 179.51 is the line "Net cash flows (used in)/ generated from operating activities" in the Standalone Statement of Cash Flows, the parent company alone, with (1,894.46) the year before. The 747.06 is the group's consolidated profit for the year. The Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2024 reads "Net Cash used in Operating Activities (692.57)", with (2,860.64) in FY 2022-23 (Godrej Properties Limited, 2024). On one set of statements, the consolidated set our financial analysis sample is built on throughout, the conclusion reverses: the group used cash in both years while its consolidated profit rose from 620.60 crore to 747.06 crore, which is a stronger finding than thin cash conversion. Take every line from one set of statements and name the set in your first sentence; in this report the two cash-flow statements look alike, so read the page heading before you copy a line.

What Is the Difference Between an Announced Figure and an Audited One?

An announced figure is what the company said on the day, usually from unaudited accounts; an audited figure is the line in the statements the auditor has reported on. The gap can be wide. OYO announced a 2024-25 profit after tax of 623 crore rupees in May 2025; the audited consolidated statement signed in July gives 2,448.22 million, about 245 crore.

OYO's 2024-25 profit, as announced and as audited

Point of comparison	Announced, 8 May 2025 (unaudited)	Audited consolidated, annual report dated 23 July 2025
Profit after tax for 2024-25	Announced, 8 May 2025 (unaudited) 623 crore rupees (6,230 million)	Audited consolidated, annual report dated 23 July 2025 2,448.22 million rupees (about 245 crore)
Profit for 2023-24, given alongside	Announced, 8 May 2025 (unaudited) 229 crore rupees	Audited consolidated, annual report dated 23 July 2025 2,295.79 million rupees (about 229.6 crore), so the prior year agrees
Revenue	Announced, 8 May 2025 (unaudited) 6,463 crore rupees	Audited consolidated, annual report dated 23 July 2025 Revenue from operations 62,528.30 million rupees (about 6,253 crore)
From loss before tax to profit for the year	Announced, 8 May 2025 (unaudited) Not announced	Audited consolidated, annual report dated 23 July 2025 Loss before tax 4,893.17 million; current tax 334.19 million; deferred tax credit 7,675.58 million (note 30)
Standalone profit for 2024-25	Announced, 8 May 2025 (unaudited) Not announced	Audited consolidated, annual report dated 23 July 2025 4,638.71 million rupees, beside the consolidated 2,448.22 million in the report's summary table
Document and basis	Announced, 8 May 2025 (unaudited) An employee townhall reported by the Press Trust of India, 'as per its unaudited financials'	Audited consolidated, annual report dated 23 July 2025 Consolidated statement of profit and loss for the year ended 31 March 2025, amounts in INR million, signed 23 July 2025

Announced documents come in several forms, and each one says what it is if you read the heading. H&M's full-year report for 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025 says on its face that "this full-year report has not been audited by the company's auditors" (H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, 2026). A founder's statement to staff, reported by a news agency, is the least formal of all. None of these is wrong to quote, but each has to be labelled for what it is, and when the audited document exists, the audited figure is the one your sentence rests on.

Worked Mistake 4: The Announced Profit That Was Not the Audited Profit (OYO, FY2024-25)

The sentence that gets written is "OYO made a profit after tax of 623 crore rupees in 2024-25." The figure is real. In May 2025 the Press Trust of India reported OYO's founder telling employees at a townhall that the company made a profit after tax of 623 crore in 2024-25, "as per its unaudited financials", on revenue of 6,463 crore (Press Trust of India, 2025).

The Annual Report 2024-25, signed on 23 July 2025, reads differently. Its consolidated statement of profit and loss gives revenue from operations of 62,528.30 million rupees and a loss before tax of 4,893.17 million, after a net exceptional charge of 1,670.15 million (notes 29 and 50) and finance cost of 9,591.55 million (note 26). Current tax of 334.19 million and a deferred tax credit of 7,675.58 million (note 30) then turn that loss into a profit for the year of 2,448.22 million, about 245 crore (Oravel Stays Limited, 2025). The prior year is the cross-check: the same news report puts 2023-24 profit at 229 crore, which matches the audited consolidated figure for that year, 2,295.79 million (about 229.6 crore), so last year's number agrees and this year's does not. The report does not explain the gap between 623 crore and 245 crore, and we have not guessed at it. Its summary table adds a second lesson: a standalone profit of 4,638.71 million for the same year sits beside the consolidated 2,448.22 million, so even the audited document holds two profits, and only the consolidated one describes the group. Our SWOT analysis of OYO Rooms and PESTEL analysis of OYO quote the audited figure and name its basis.

Why Does the Fiscal Year Matter When You Compare Companies?

Because "FY2025" is not one period. Apple's FY2025 ended on 27 September 2025, H&M's on 30 November, Alphabet's and Netflix's on 31 December; OYO's 2024-25 ended on 31 March 2025, and Toyota's FY2026 runs from April 2025 to March 2026. Next's year to January 2026 had 53 weeks. Write the period end beside every figure and compare like with like.

Six financial years called 2025 or 2026, April 2024 to March 2026

Months

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23

1. OYO, financial year 2024-25

   Months 1–12

   1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the Indian year end that Godrej Properties also reports to (Oravel Stays Limited, 2025).

2. Apple, FY2025

   Months 7–18

   52 weeks from 29 September 2024 to 27 September 2025; the year ends on the last Saturday of September (Apple Inc., 2025).

3. H&M, financial year 2025

   Months 9–20

   1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025 (H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, 2026).

4. Alphabet, Netflix and Tesla, FY2025

   Months 10–21

   Calendar 2025, 1 January to 31 December (Alphabet Inc., 2026a; Netflix, Inc., 2026a; Tesla, Inc., 2026).

5. Next, year to January 2026

   Months 11–22

   53 weeks from 26 January 2025 to 31 January 2026; the previous year was 52 weeks to 25 January 2025 (NEXT plc, 2026).

6. Toyota, FY2026

   Months 13–24

   1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, which the Form 20-F calls fiscal 2026 (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2026a, 2026b).

Timeline data

Phase	Start (month)	End (month)
OYO, financial year 2024-25	1	12
Apple, FY2025	7	18
H&M, financial year 2025	9	20
Alphabet, Netflix and Tesla, FY2025	10	21
Next, year to January 2026	11	22
Toyota, FY2026	13	24

Apple's 10-K states the rule its year follows: "The Company's fiscal year is the 52- or 53-week period that ends on the last Saturday of September", with an extra week added to the first quarter every five or six years; fiscal 2025 and 2024 were 52 weeks each, fiscal 2023 was 53, and fiscal 2024 ended on 28 September 2024 (Apple Inc., 2025). Our SWOT analysis of Apple dates its figures to that year end. H&M reports 1 December to 30 November (H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, 2026), so its 2025 ends a month before the calendar-year companies', which is why our marketing strategy of H&M sample dates its store count to 30 November 2025. Alphabet, Netflix and Tesla report the calendar year, so theirs are the only years on the timeline that cover exactly the same twelve months (Tesla, Inc., 2026); our SWOT analysis of Tesla works from that calendar year.

The 53-week year is the trap inside the UK trap. Next's report says "the financial year ending January 2026 includes a 53rd week, which adds £111m to the Group's turnover and £24m to pre-tax profit", and that the sales and profit analysis in its review excludes that week. The same report therefore shows two of everything: "Total Group sales (52 weeks vs 52 weeks)" of £7,004m against "Statutory revenue (53 weeks vs 52 weeks)" of £6,901m, and "NEXT Group profit before tax (52 weeks vs 52 weeks)" of £1,158m against "Statutory profit before tax (53 weeks vs 52 weeks)" of £1,193m (NEXT plc, 2026). The two revenue lines differ by definition as well as by the week, so quote the label with the number, and never set a 53-week statutory figure against a rival's 52-week one without saying so.

Toyota's FY2026 and Tesla's FY2025 share nine months, April to December 2025, and a comparison of the two is honest only if it says that. OYO's 2024-25 and Toyota's FY2026 share none. The habit that avoids all of this is small: write "for the year ended 31 March 2026" or "for the 53 weeks to 31 January 2026" the first time each company's figures appear, and let the reader see the gap.

How Do You Turn a SWOT or PESTEL Bullet Into Evidence From the Filing?

Replace the adjective with a line and a note. "Content is expensive" becomes the amortisation note, the cash-flow line and the commitments note of Netflix's 10-K; "WeWork's leases were too long" becomes the lease term and the member commitment term in its prospectus. Risk factors are where most PESTEL evidence sits, because the company has already named what threatens it.

Worked Example 5: One Weakness, Three Places in the Filing (Netflix, FY2025)

The wrong version reads: "Content is expensive, and licensed content is fragile." It is an assertion, and Netflix's 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025 turns it into three figures from three places. Note 5, Balance Sheet Components, gives amortisation of content assets for 2025: licensed content 8,713,558 thousand dollars, produced content 7,708,608 thousand, total 16,422,166 thousand, so more than half of the year's content amortisation was for licensed titles, which Netflix does not own. The consolidated statement of cash flows gives additions to content assets of 17,096,617 thousand dollars, the cash side of the same spending; our SWOT analysis of Netflix argues from those two figures, the amortisation split and the additions line. The third place is Note 9, Commitments and Contingencies: 24.0 billion dollars of content obligations at 31 December 2025, of which 18.4 billion "are not reflected on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as they did not yet meet the criteria for recognition" (Netflix, Inc., 2026a).

The shareholder letter of 20 January 2026 supplies the behaviour behind the numbers: in the second half of 2025, viewing of branded originals rose 9 percent while non-branded viewing fell, which the letter puts down mainly to a lower volume of licensed second-run content (Netflix, Inc., 2026b). Written that way, the bullet says how much, on what, and where a reader can check it. Our PESTEL analysis of Netflix draws on the same filing for its external factors.

Worked Example 6: Risk Factors as the PESTEL Evidence Section (WeWork, S-1 2019 and 10-K 2022)

Start from the bullet "Members commit for months while WeWork commits for years", with the environmental and legal factors of a PESTEL listed and nothing behind them. The evidence is in two filings. The prospectus of 14 August 2019, a Form S-1, says "the average length of the initial term of our U.S. leases is approximately 15 years" and that "the average commitment term of our membership agreements has nearly doubled from approximately eight months as of December 1, 2017 to more than 15 months as of June 1, 2019"; it puts future undiscounted minimum lease payments at 47.2 billion dollars and committed revenue backlog at 4.0 billion at 30 June 2019 (The We Company, 2019). The annual report on Form 10-K for 2022 supplies the PESTEL factors in its risk factors: environmental laws that may require an owner or operator of real estate "to investigate and remediate the effects of hazardous or toxic substances", local building codes covering "environmental protection", "adverse weather and climate conditions" that could damage locations or prevent access to them, and the California Consumer Privacy Act, which bears on the personal information it holds (WeWork Inc., 2023).

This example carries two cautions. A prospectus is not an annual report: it is the document a company files to sell shares, and it describes the business at that date. And WeWork's accounts are US GAAP; the S-1 says it adopted ASC 842 for leases early, so if your finance module asks about IFRS 16, that is the standard a UK-listed company would apply, not the one in these filings. Our SWOT and PESTEL analysis of WeWork is built on these two filings.

How Do You Cite an Annual Report or a 10-K in Harvard?

Treat the company as the author. In Cite Them Right Harvard, the version the two university guides below teach, the pattern is Organisation (Year) Title. Available at: URL (Accessed: date). The year is the year the document was published, not the year it reports on, so Alphabet's 10-K for 2025, filed in February 2026, is cited as (Alphabet Inc., 2026a).

The pattern comes from two university guides. The University of Reading's examples, written to the 13th edition of Cite Them Right by Pears and Shields, reference an annual report like this: "Tesco PLC (2025) Annual report and financial statement. Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/investors/reports-results-and-presentations/reports-archive/ (Accessed: 6 July 2026)" (University of Reading, 2026). That example points at Tesco's reports archive rather than the report itself; for a filing that a later year will push down that page, give the PDF or EDGAR URL, and if your department's guide shows the archive page, follow the guide. The Open University's quick guide states the rule behind the pattern: where a source "has been created by a corporate body (e.g. a company, a government department, a university etc.) then use the name of that body as the author in both the in-text citation and the full reference"; two documents by the same author in one year take the suffixes a and b, and a page with no date takes "no date" in place of the year (The Open University, no date). Neither guide shows a 10-K, a 20-F or a press release exhibit, so the formats below are derived from that organisation-as-author pattern, with the title as the document prints it or a plain description where the cover gives none; check your department's guide before you rely on them.

• A 10-K. Alphabet Inc. (2026a) Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2025. Available at: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000018/goog-20251231.htm (Accessed: 24 September 2026). In the text: (Alphabet Inc., 2026a, Note 2).
• The results press release, cited separately. Alphabet Inc. (2026b) Alphabet Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Results, Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K, 4 February 2026. Available at: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000012/googexhibit991q42025.htm (Accessed: 24 September 2026). In the text: (Alphabet Inc., 2026b).
• A UK annual report. NEXT plc (2026) Annual Report and Accounts January 2026. Available at: https://www.nextplc.co.uk/~/media/Files/N/next-plc-v4/about-next/annual-report-and-accounts-jan-2026.pdf (Accessed: 24 September 2026). In the text: (NEXT plc, 2026, Note 4).
• An Indian annual report. Oravel Stays Limited (2025) Annual Report 2024-25. Available at: https://oyo-investor-relations.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/Annual+Report/OSL_Annual+Report+2025.pdf (Accessed: 24 September 2026). In the text: (Oravel Stays Limited, 2025, consolidated statement of profit and loss).
• A 20-F. Toyota Motor Corporation (2026b) Annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2026. Available at: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1094517/000119312526264811/d101983d20f.htm (Accessed: 24 September 2026). In the text: (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2026b, Item 5).

Keep the citation honest with four habits. Use the legal name on the cover as the author, which is why OYO's report is cited as Oravel Stays Limited. Cite the URL of the document you opened, not the investor-relations landing page it sits on, because a landing page changes as new results arrive. Put the note, item or page in the in-text citation, so a reader can go straight to the line. And if you quoted the press release for the date and the 10-K for the figure, cite both, with the a and b suffixes, rather than letting one stand in for the other.

What Is the Checklist From Filing to Citation?

The checklist has seven steps: find the filing; confirm the period end and the basis; locate the figure in its note; copy it with unit and currency; cross-check against the press release and the prior year; write the sentence with the basis in it; reference it in Cite Them Right form. Each example above skipped at least one.

From filing to citation in seven steps

1. 1 Find the filing EDGAR for a US company or a 20-F filer; the investor-relations page for a UK, Indian or Japanese company. Open the filing itself, not the page that summarises it.
2. 2 Confirm the period end and the basis Read the cover and the statement headings: which year, how many weeks, consolidated or standalone, audited or unaudited.
3. 3 Locate the figure The segment or revenue note, the MD&A or strategic report paragraph, the cash-flow statement, the risk factors. Read the note's definition before you use its number.
4. 4 Copy it with the unit and the currency Thousands, millions, crore; dollars, pounds, rupees, yen. Write the unit the report prints, then convert if you must, and show the conversion.
5. 5 Cross-check Against the press release for the same period and against the prior-year column; a gap is either a definition or a story, and either way it goes in the sentence.
6. 6 Write the sentence with the basis in it 'Consolidated profit for the year ended 31 March 2025 was 2,448.22 million rupees', not 'OYO made 623 crore'.
7. 7 Reference it in Cite Them Right form Organisation (Year) Title. Available at: the filing URL (Accessed: date), with the note, item or page in the in-text citation.

The first step is the easiest to shortcut. Every 10-K is on EDGAR, and the SEC's bulletin notes that most companies also post their 10-Ks on their own websites (SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, no date); a UK or Indian company's report sits on its investor page. Open the filing or the PDF itself, not the results page that summarises it, because the summary is where the announced figure lives.

The method continues on two neighbouring pages. If your module asks for a research proposal that uses company filings as secondary data, our business research methods sample shows the structure such a proposal follows, from aims and objectives to a summary of what the methodology chapter must contain. If the case study has to be delivered as a formatted report, the report writing help page describes the structure a marker expects, with findings kept apart from recommendations, and the checklist above fits inside the findings.

Need help with a case study or financial analysis built on a company's own filings? Message us on WhatsApp with the company, the brief and the deadline, and we will tell you what we can do.

Sources

• Alphabet Inc. (2026a) Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2025, filed 5 February 2026. SEC EDGAR (accessed 24 September 2026). Items 1 and 7; Notes 1, 2 and 15.
• Alphabet Inc. (2026b) Alphabet Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Results, Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K, 4 February 2026. SEC EDGAR (accessed 24 September 2026). The "unaudited" table headings and the Waymo charge as announced.
• Apple Inc. (2025) Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 27 September 2025, filed 31 October 2025. SEC EDGAR (accessed 24 September 2026). The 52- or 53-week rule and the week counts for fiscal 2023 to 2025.
• Financial Reporting Council (2026) Guidance on the Strategic Report, February 2026 edition. frc.org.uk (PDF) (accessed 24 September 2026). Paragraphs 3.11, 8.3 and 9.16.
• Godrej Properties Limited (2024) Integrated Report 2023-24. godrejproperties.com (PDF) (accessed 24 September 2026). The standalone and consolidated statements of cash flows and the consolidated profit for the year.
• Government of India (2013) The Companies Act, 2013 (Act No. 18 of 2013), as amended, section 129. India Code (PDF) (accessed 24 September 2026). Section 129(3).
• H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (2026) Full-year report 2025 (1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025). hmgroup.com (PDF) (accessed 24 September 2026). The reporting period and the unaudited statement.
• Netflix, Inc. (2026a) Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2025, filed 23 January 2026. SEC EDGAR (accessed 24 September 2026). Note 5, the statement of cash flows, Item 7 and Note 9.
• Netflix, Inc. (2026b) Q4 2025 shareholder letter, Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K, 20 January 2026. SEC EDGAR (accessed 24 September 2026). Second-half 2025 viewing of branded originals and licensed second-run content.
• NEXT plc (2026) Annual Report and Accounts January 2026. nextplc.co.uk (PDF) (accessed 24 September 2026). The 53rd week, the 52-week and statutory lines, and Notes 1, 4, 33 and 35.
• Oravel Stays Limited (2025) Annual Report 2024-25, dated 23 July 2025. oyo-investor-relations (PDF) (accessed 24 September 2026). The consolidated statement of profit and loss, notes 26, 29, 30, 36, 46 and 50, and the summary table.
• Press Trust of India (2025) 'OYO most profitable startup in FY25 with ₹623 cr profit: Ritesh Agarwal', Business Standard, 8 May. business-standard.com (accessed 24 September 2026). The announced profit and revenue, the "unaudited financials" wording and the 229 crore prior year.
• SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (no date) Investor Bulletin: How to Read a 10-K. sec.gov (PDF) (accessed 24 September 2026). The 10-K against the annual report to shareholders, EDGAR, and Items 1, 1A, 7, 7A and 8.
• Tesla, Inc. (2026) Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2025, filed 29 January 2026. SEC EDGAR (accessed 24 September 2026). The calendar-year fiscal period.
• The Open University (no date) Quick guide to Harvard referencing (Cite Them Right). Library Services. Internet Archive copy of 19 September 2026 (accessed 24 September 2026). The corporate-author rule, the a and b suffixes and "no date".
• The We Company (2019) Form S-1 registration statement, 14 August 2019. SEC EDGAR (accessed 24 September 2026). The lease term, the membership term, the lease payments, the backlog and ASC 842.
• Toyota Motor Corporation (2026a) Financial Summary FY2026 (April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026), 8 May 2026. global.toyota (PDF) (accessed 24 September 2026). The reporting period and the "English translation" and "Unaudited" headings.
• Toyota Motor Corporation (2026b) Annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2026, filed 10 June 2026. SEC EDGAR (accessed 24 September 2026). IFRS Accounting Standards, the auditor's report, the securities report "filed with the Kanto Local Bureau of Finance on June 10, 2026" and "fiscal 2026".
• Toyota Motor Corporation (2026c) 有価証券報告書・半期報告書 (annual securities report and semi-annual report), IR library, in Japanese. global.toyota (accessed 24 September 2026). Lists the securities report for the year to March 2026; the English-language library offers the SEC filings and the financial results instead.
• University of Reading (2026) Citing references: Harvard examples (Cite Them Right, 13th edition, Pears and Shields). libguides.reading.ac.uk (accessed 24 September 2026). The Tesco PLC reference and the organisation-as-author pattern.
• WeWork Inc. (2023) Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2022, filed 29 March 2023. SEC EDGAR (accessed 24 September 2026). The environmental, building-code, weather and climate, and data-privacy risk factors.

Filings checked for currency on 24 September 2026: the later 10-Qs from Alphabet, Netflix, Apple and Tesla, Tesla's 10-K amendment of 30 April 2026, which adds only the Part III governance and pay disclosures, and Toyota's 6-K reports to 3 September 2026 change no figure or year end quoted here. WeWork's last 10-K is the one for 2022; it filed a Form 15 to end its registration in June 2024.