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usefulness of financial statements
usefulness of financial statements
chapter 1 introduction to financial statements
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Introduction This test is about an informational presentation to a group of small business owners with no accounting or financial knowledge. It is a report that identify the audiences, purposes, and natures of financial statements and managerial reports. In addition, it will explain the use of financial accounting information in making informed and ethical business decisions. Audiences, Purposes, and Natures of Financial Statements Prior to decide the audience, purpose, and natures of financial statement, it becomes necessary the definition of the words. Financial statements are reports that show where the money is, where it comes from, where it goes, and where is now. It can be divided in four categories: Balance Sheets, Income Statements, Cash Flow Statements, and Statements of Shareholder’s Equity. These reports will be finding in the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and as a public record, if the business is a public business. Private business will send those reports to owners and lenders of that business. The objective of Financial Statement is to give the audience information about a company’s performance and financial position. They need to be reliable, comparable, relevant, and understandable to the audience. The audience must be willing diligently to study the information provided in the statements. Balance sheets provide detailed information about assets, liabilities, and shareholder’s equity of a company. Assets are everything that a company owns that have worth-physical property, trademarks, patents, cash and investments. Liability is everything that the company owes, like rent, loans, money owed to suppliers, payroll, or taxes. Shareholder’s equity is the capital or net worth, or the money left over after the sale of all assets and the payment of all debts. Income Statements are the reports of profits in a specific period, like quarterly, annually or monthly. It is all that rest after subtracted all costs. Managers and board of directors use them to determine the direction of the company. They are internal or external, and the internal is always more detailed and expansive than the external. Managerial accounting prepares internal financial statements to help managers plan, make decisions, and control business functions. Normally, these reports are confidential and not shared outside of the company. Cash flow Statements report operating, which is an analysis of the cash flow from income or losses, investing, that reflect purchase or sales of assets, and financing activities of a company, which shows how monies come into a company, as sale of stocks or bonds, or out, as repayments of loans.
The balance sheet displays the status of an entity at a specific time. Contrary to the balance sheet, income statements and statements of cash flows cover periods over time. These two forms provide the information on why the balance sheet has changed. To receive the information that contributes to the changes related to a change in retained income, the income statement will provide a detailed summary. To receive an explanation of the events that lead to modifications in cash, received and paid, the statement of cash flows will be utilized to provide that information (Horngren, 2014, p.
Financial statement users around the globe use financial statements to evaluate the performance of companies (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006). In order to locate a company’s reported assets, liabilities, expenses and revenues, statement users rely on four types of financial statements. The four financial statements include: Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Retained Earnings, and Statement of Cash Flows (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p. 6). Each of these reports provides different information to the financial statement user. The Balance Sheet reports at a point in time: a company’s assets (what it owns), liabilities (what it owes) and stockholder’s equity (what is left over for the owners) (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p.7). The Income Statement shows whether a business made a profit (net income) during a specific period of time (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p. 10). The Statement of Retained Earnings illustrates what portions of the company’s earnings was paid to stockholders and retained by the company for future operations (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p.12). Finally, the Statement of Cash Flows reports summarizes how a business’ “operating, investing, and financial activities caused its cash balance to change over a particular range of time” (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p.13).
Financial statements are those statements which provide information about profitability and financial position of a business. It includes two statements, i.e., profit & loss a/c or income statement and bal...
Data on the income statement includes quarterly (one-year) time range and discloses the costs and revenues of the company, net income and deductions from it in the reserves, the payment of dividends and so on. From these data it is possible to obtain information about the value and dynamics of the value of output, its cost and the financial condition of the company and for the previous reporting
According to the conceptual framework, the potential users of financial statements are investors, creditors, suppliers, employees, customers, governments and agencies, and the general public (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). The primary users are investors, creditors, and those who advise them. It goes on to define the criteria that make up each potential user, as well as, the limitations of financial reporting. The FASB explicitly states that financial reporting is “but one source of information needed by those who make investment, credit, and similar resource allocation decisions. Users also need to consider pertinent information from other sources, and be aware of the characteristics and limitations of the information in them” (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). With this in mind, it is still particularly difficult to determine whom the financials should be catered towards and what level of prudence is necessary for quality judgment.
The income statement can also be known as the statement of income, statement of earnings, or statement of operations. It reports the accountant’s primary measure of performance of a business, revenues less expenses during the accounting period. This statement shows the net income of the company; revenues minus expenses. The income statement’s header includes the name of the entity, the title of the report, and the unit of measure used in the statement. The time shown is only for a specified period of time.
In this paper the three major types of financial statements will be discussed. The three major types of financial statements are income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements. It will also talk about owners’ equity. The paper will also touch on some key points in each of the three types of financial statements and owners’ equity.
The user of the financial statement has definite objectives to analysis and interpretation. Objective of the interpretation is varied by various class of the person. There are certain specific and common objectives which are listed below
Managers, firm owners, and investors keep track of their firm performance. Financial statements are used to keep track of the strengths and weaknesses of firms. The three major financial statements used are income statements, balance sheets, and statement of cash flows. Financial ratios are also used to measure where a company stands within itself and in its industry norms. This analysis is called Financial Statement Analysis. Financial Statement Analysis gives understanding to a firm’s financial position at a given point of time and predictions for the future.
White, Gerald, Ashwinpaul Sondhi, and Haim Fried. The Analysis and Use of Financial Statements. June 1997. John Wiley & Sons. 2nd Edition.
Income statement-: Income statement is the financial statement that measures a company 's financial performance over a specific accounting period. Financial performance is assessed by giving a summary of how the business incurs its revenues and expenses through both operating and non-operating activities.
The users of financial statement have definite objectives to analysis and interpret .Therefore; there are variations in the objectives of interpretation by various classes of people. However, there are certain specific and common objectives which are listed below:
One portion of the income statement is dedicated to the income and revenue for the period. The other portion of the statement reflects the expenses for the same period. The company’s profitability during that particular period, quarter or yearly, will determine the differences between the two numbers. If the company experienced a loss during that business cycle, then that would mean that the expense was higher than income. An income statement provides insight into a company’s sales and expense amounts, and how they affect liquidity. Most businesses typically prepare a monthly income statements to assess business
On the other hand, managerial accounting is category of accounting that provides special purpose statements, and it reports to management and other persons inside the
Owners and managers require financial statements to make important business decisions that affect its continued operations. Financial analysis is then performed on these statements to provide management with a more detailed understanding of the figures. These statements are also used as part of management's annual report to the stockholders.