Using the financial statements of your company (or companies), write a 1,000–1,500 word paper that addresses the following questions:

What GAAP principles govern the consolidation of financial statements?
How are consolidated and equity methods of accounting different?
What investments has the company made in affiliated companies? Examine its footnotes.
Comment on the accounting for investments in affiliated companies after looking at the footnotes.
List the investments it has.
Does it use cost basis or equity method of accounting, or both?
When do you use the equity method of accounting?
Goodwill is the difference between the acquired assets and acquired liabilities.
(Find a company that has goodwill). Examine the balance sheet and the footnotes. What is the goodwill related to?
What FASB covers the reporting and accounting of goodwill?
What is the difference between old goodwill reporting and new goodwill reporting?

I do not know how to read a consolidated balance sheet yet.
How do I begin this task?