Financial Statements

If you are a lover of numbers, then these are your dream play place. However, if numbers, calculations, and super lengthy spreadsheets are synonyms for headache for you, then you should steer clear of this inevitable segment of business and let someone from former category take care of these.

Financial statements can be simply defined as the written records that communicate the financial strength and performance of a business. They contain, if prepared properly, record and details of every single transaction of a company, with amounts, values, dates, and perhaps even time. All business decisions from scaling up or down, to investing or divesting are dependent on these very statements.

Financial statements can be prepared for any period of time by a business, but as per legal requirements companies are necessitated to prepare at least annual statements, but in some cases semi-annual or quarterly financial statements may also be required. Publicly listed companies have stronger requirements from regulatory authorities as compared to private limited or partnerships when it comes to financial statements.

Types of Financial Statements

Each business has distinct needs and may choose to keep a variety of financial statements as per their requirements, but legally and universally there are three main types of such statements:

Financial Statements Outsourcing

As explained in the beginning of the article, preparing financial statements is a tedious, meticulous and sensitive task. Left to those who get confused by numbers, are inept in the legal requirements of financial statements, or are reckless with calculations can lead to monumental disasters for a business. At the same time finding qualified people for the job can be difficult and expensive. Outsourcing companies exist and are flourishing for a reason. They reduce your work load and costs at the same time. At Intersoft qualified financial analysts are responsible for preparing, maintaining and updating your financial statements that keeps you informed of your financial position, helps you avoid legal fines and penalties, and gain efficiency, all the while keeping a lid on your costs.

Income Statement or Profit & Loss account: As the name implies this is the record of day to day business activities. Sales, cost of sales, revenues and expenses from other sources than primary business activities, rental charges, and even intangible expenses like depreciation and amortization are all part of this statement. Net profit or losses are calculated from this statement by subtracting all expenses from total revenues – hence the other name ‘Profit & Loss account’.

Balance Sheet: Also known as the statement of financial position, a balance sheet shows the position of assets owned by and liabilities owed by a business at any point in time. There is a third section in Balance sheet of ‘equity’. This is slightly more complicated to understand but in layman’s terms this is the stake that owners have in a particular business or what a company owes to its owners. In numerical terms this is equal to the difference between assets and liabilities.

Cash Flow Statement:This is the statement that shows the liquidity position of a business, and keeps track of how much cash, cash equivalent, and easily sellable assets a company owns. This is further divided into three main categories to keep track of where the cash is coming from or going to. These are operating activities – primary business processes, investing activities – the sale and purchase of assets, and financing activities – the loans borrowed or paid back, share capital issued, interests, dividends and so on.

A fourth form of financial statement, called Statement of Changes in Equity is also sometimes kept to keep track of the equity (the header from balance sheet) details. In addition to share capital changes and dividend payments, this statement also accounts for the profits retained, any revaluations in total equity, and any corresponding changes in accounting policy.