Please access and review AT&T's most recent annual report. At the beginning of Chapter 4 (page 128), there is a short introduction to the process of consolidation using AT&Tas the primary example for illustration.In this discussion, focus on the following excerpt:

Each time they present financial statements, AT&T's accountants must take the separate financial records of each of the parent company's subsidiaries and consolidate them. How do their accountants perform this task? Does the passage of time since acquisition affect this process?

Please provide a substantive response to the questions posed in the excerpt above. You need to read the chapter and perhaps consult some outside research to provide a response