Saturday, July 28, 2012

Financial Statement


Financial Statements
       Financial statements are written reports of financial affairs of a company.
       Such companies’ reports communicate the result of its business operations for a particular period of time and its financial position at the end of that period.
       Financial Statements
       Financial statements of the company include:
      Balance Sheet
      Profit & Loss Account
      Trading Account
      Cash Flow Statement
      Profit & Loss Appropriation Account

Users of Financial Statements
       Owners and managers
       Employees
       Prospective investors
       Financial institutions
       Government
       Creditors
       Others

Objectives of Financial Statements
        To provide financial information to users.
        To provide useful financial information for predicting, comparing and evaluating potential cash flow of a business.
        To help in knowing earning power of a company.
        To help in judging management’s ability to utilize resources effectively.
        To provide statement of financial position of the company concerning the assets and liabilities of the business.
        To provide the financial statement in periodic basis so that the comparisons of progress can be made.
        To compare with competitors.
        To provide necessary information for financial forecasting.
        To provide required data for research.

Balance Sheet
       The balance sheet is a snapshot of the firm’s assets and liabilities at a given point in time
       Assets are listed in order of liquidity
      Ease of conversion to cash
      Without significant loss of value
       Balance Sheet Identity
      Assets = Liabilities + Stockholders’ Equity
        Net Working Capital
       Current Assets – Current Liabilities
       Positive when the cash that will be received over the next 12 months exceeds the cash that will be paid out
       Usually positive in a healthy firm
        Liquidity
       Ability to convert to cash quickly without a significant loss in value
       Liquid firms are less likely to experience financial distress
       But liquid assets earn a lower return
       Trade-off to find balance between liquid and illiquid assets

Market Vs. Book Value
       The balance sheet provides the book value of the assets, liabilities and equity.
       Market value is the price at which the assets, liabilities or equity can actually be bought or sold.
       Market value and book value are often very different. Why?
       Which is more important to the decision-making process?

Income Statement
       The income statement is more like a video of the firm’s operations for a specified period of time.
       You generally report revenues first and then deduct any expenses for the period
       Matching principle –shows revenue when it accrues and match the expenses required to generate the revenue



Statement of Cash Flows
       Is used to help answer questions such as:
      Is the firm generating enough cash to purchase the additional assets required for growth?
      Is the firm generating any extra cash that can be used to repay debt or to invest in new products?
       Such information is useful both for managers and investors

Statement of Retained Earnings
       Shows how much of the firm’s earnings were retained, rather than paid out as dividends
       A positive number in the retained earnings account indicates only that in the past the firm earned some income

Statement of Cash Flows
       Summarizes the changes in a company’s cash position
       The statement separates activities into three categories, plus a summary section:
      Operating activities
      Investment activities
      Financing activities
       Operating activities
       Includes:
      net income,
      depreciation,
      changes in current assets and liabilities other than cash,
      short-term investments and
      short term debt
       Investing activities
       Includes:
      investments in fixed assets
      or sales of fixed assets

       Financing activities
       Includes:
      Raising cash by selling short-term investments or by issuing short-term debt
      Long term debt, or stock
      Also because both dividends paid and cash used to buy back outstanding stock or bonds reduce the company’s cash, such transactions are included here

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