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Financial statements provide small business owners with the basic tools for determining how well their operations perform at all times. Many entrepreneurs do not realize that financial statements have a value that goes beyond their use as supporting documents to loan applications and tax returns.
These statements are concise reports designed to summarize financial activities for specific periods. Owners and managers can use financial statement analysis to evaluate the past and current financial condition of their business, diagnose any existing financial problems, and forecast future trends in the firm’s financial position.
Evaluation pinpoints, in financial terms, where the firm has been and where it is today. Diagnosis determines the causes of the financial problems that statement analysis uncovers and suggests solutions for them.
Forecasts are valuable in statement analysis for two reasons: You can prepare forecasts that assume that the basic financial facts about a company will remain the same for a specified period in the future. These forecasts will illustrate where you're likely to stand if the status quo is maintained. Or, you can gain insights into the impact of certain business decisions by calculating the answers to “what if” questions. When you test the consequences of changes you’re contemplating, or that may occur because of changing market conditions or customer tastes, for example, you achieve a greater understanding about the financial interrelationships at work in a business.
The two key reports for all sizes and categories of business are the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement. The Balance Sheet is an itemized statement that lists the total assets and the total liabilities of a business, and gives its net worth on a certain date (such as the end of a month, quarter, or year). The Income Statement records revenue versus expenses for a given period of time.
Regular preparation and analysis of financial statement information helps business managers and owners detect the problems that experts continue to see as the chief causes of small business failure -- such as high, operating expenses, sluggish sales, poor cash management, excessive fixed assets, and inventory mismanagement. By comparing statements from different periods, you can more easily spot trends and make necessary management decisions and budget revisions before small problems become large ones.
This Resource Guide is intended to provide you with a basic understanding of the components and purposes of financial statements. The Balance Sheet and Income Statement formats are designed as general models and are not complete for every business operation. Computation of income for financial accounting purposes is done according to the rules of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (known as GAAP). Be aware that income and losses computed using GAAP rules will not necessarily be the same as those calculated to comply with the Internal Revenue Code.
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