
The four key financial statements are:
- The Income Statement
- The Statement of Owner's Equity
- The Balance Sheet
- Statement of Cash Flow
What are the four key financial statements?
- an income/profit and loss statement
- a balance sheet
- a stockholders’ equity statement
- a cash flow statement
What are the four basic financial statements?
The four basic financial statements are: Assets. How much you have. Liabilities. How much you owe. Stockholder's Equity. Financing by owners of the business and reinvested earnings (known as "retained earnings") Assets. Liabilities + Stockholder's Equity = Income Statement.
What are the four primary financial statements?
What are the Four Basic Financial Statements?
- Income Statement. The income statement presents the revenues, expenses, and profits/losses generated during the reporting period.
- Balance Sheet. The balance sheet presents the assets, liabilities, and equity of the entity as of the reporting date.
- Statement of Cash Flows. ...
- Statement of Retained Earnings. ...
What are the four types of financial statements?
- Statement of Comprehensive Income or Income Statement
- Statement of Financial Position or Balance Sheet
- Statement of Cashflows
- Statement of Changes in Equity

What are the 5 basic financial statements?
The usual order of financial statements is as follows:Income statement.Cash flow statement.Statement of changes in equity.Balance sheet.Note to financial statements.
What are the key financial statements and why they are important?
Key Takeaways Financial statements provide a snapshot of a corporation's financial health, giving insight into its performance, operations, and cash flow. Financial statements are essential since they provide information about a company's revenue, expenses, profitability, and debt.
What are the three key financial statements?
The income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows are required financial statements. These three statements are informative tools that traders can use to analyze a company's financial strength and provide a quick picture of a company's financial health and underlying value.
What are the 7 financial statements?
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has defined the following elements of financial statements of business enterprises: assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, expenses, gains, losses, investment by owners, distribution to owners, and comprehensive income.
How are the three main financial statements connected?
Net Income Linkage The short answer on how the three financial statements are linked is to focus on net income (aka the "bottom-line" number), which is calculated on the income statement (after deducting all expenses from the company's revenues). Net income flows into the cash flow statement as its top-line item.
What means GAAP?
Generally Accepted Accounting PrinciplesWhat Is GAAP? Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP or US GAAP) are a collection of commonly-followed accounting rules and standards for financial reporting.
What financial statement is first?
Income statementIncome statement The financial statement prepared first is your income statement. As you know by now, the income statement breaks down all of your company's revenues and expenses. You need your income statement first because it gives you the necessary information to generate other financial statements.
What is the most important financial statement?
The most important financial statement for the majority of users is likely to be the income statement, since it reveals the ability of a business to generate a profit. Also, the information listed on the income statement is mostly in relatively current dollars, and so represents a reasonable degree of accuracy.
What do you look for in financial statements?
When analyzing financial statements, investors should consider reviewing a company's net profit, sales and revenue growth, debt level, profit margin, and free cash flow.
What are three financial statements which is the most important and why?
The cash flow statement, income statement and balance sheet are essential financial statements. These statements are meant to be viewed as a whole, and they can show the results and financial condition of a company fully. Thus, all these statements are vital in a company and correctly generating them is crucial.
What are the most important ratios in financial analysis?
5 Essential Financial Ratios for Every Business. The common financial ratios every business should track are 1) liquidity ratios 2) leverage ratios 3)efficiency ratio 4) profitability ratios and 5) market value ratios.
Which among the financial statements is the most important?
A company's income statement is the most important financial statement to provide when applying for funding because it reveals whether your business can generate profits.
How do I link 3 financial statements in Excel?
Step-by-Step Procedure to Link 3 Financial Statements in ExcelStep 1: Create Income Statement Sheet.Step 2: Create Balance Sheet.Step 3: Create Cash Flow Statement Sheet.Step 4: Link 3 Financial Statements.
What Are Financial Statements?
Financial statements are written records that convey the business activities and the financial performance of a company. Financial statements are often audited by government agencies, accountants, firms, etc. to ensure accuracy and for tax, financing, or investing purposes. Financial statements include:
What are the three major financial statements?
The three major financial statement reports are the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows.
What is CFS in accounting?
The CFS allows investors to understand how a company's operations are running, where its money is coming from, and how money is being spent. The CFS also provides insight as to whether a company is on a solid financial footing. There is no formula, per se, for calculating a cash flow statement.
What is the difference between assets and liabilities?
Assets are listed on the balance sheet in order of liquidity. Liabilities are listed in the order in which they will be paid. Short-term or current liabilities are expected to be paid within the year, while long-term or non-current liabilities are debts expected to be paid in over one year.
What is a CFS statement?
The cash flow statement (CFS) measures how well a company generates cash to pay its debt obligations, fund its operating expenses, and fund investments. The cash flow statement complements the balance sheet and income statement .
What is the purpose of income statement?
The main purpose of the income statement is to convey details of profitability and the financial results of business activities. However, it can be very effective in showing whether sales or revenue is increasing when compared over multiple periods. Investors can also see how well a company's management is controlling expenses to determine whether a company's efforts in reducing the cost of sales might boost profits over time.
What is account receivable?
Accounts receivables are the amount of money owed to the company by its customers for the sale of its product and service.
What is the financial statement of a company?
Financial statements are the means by which companies communicate their story. Together these statements represent the profitability and financial strength of a company. The financial statement that reflects a company’s profitability is the income statement. The statement of owner’s equity —also called the statement of retained earnings —shows the change in retained earnings between the beginning and end of a period (e.g., a month or a year). The balance sheet reflects a company’s solvency and financial position. The statement of cash flows shows the cash inflows and outflows for a company during a period of time.
What is income statement?
In accounting, we measure profitability for a period , such as a month or year, by comparing the revenues earned with the expenses incurred to produce these revenues. This is the first financial statement prepared, as you will need the information from this statement for the remaining statements. The income statement contains the following:
What is the purpose of statement of cash flows?
The main purpose of the statement of cash flows is to report on the cash receipts and cash disbursements of an entity during an accounting period . Broadly defined, cash includes both cash and cash equivalents, such as short-term investments in Treasury bills, commercial paper, and money market funds. Another purpose of this statement is to report on the entity’s investing and financing activities for the period. The statement of cash flows reports the effects on cash during a period of a company’s operating, investing, and financing activities. Firms show the effects of significant investing and financing activities that do not affect cash in a schedule separate from the statement of cash flows.
What is balance sheet?
The balance sheet lists the company’s assets, liabilities, and equity (including dollar amounts) as of a specific moment in time. That specific moment is the close of business on the date of the balance sheet. Notice how the heading of the balance sheet differs from the headings on the income statement and statement of retained earnings. A balance sheet is like a photograph; it captures the financial position of a company at a particular moment in time. The other two statements are for a period of time. As you learn about the assets, liabilities, and stockholders’ equity contained in a balance sheet, you will understand why this financial statement provides information about the solvency of the business.
What is the purpose of financial statements?
This data is reviewed by management, investors, and lenders for the purpose of assessing the company's financial position.
Why are the three accounting statements important?
All three accounting statements are important for understanding and analyzing a company’s performance from multiple angles. The income statement provides deep insight into the core operating activities that generate earnings for the firm. The balance sheet and cash flow statement, however, focus more on the capital management of the firm in terms of both assets and structure.
What is balance sheet?
Also referred to as the statement of financial position, a company's balance sheet provides information on what the company is worth from a book value perspective. The balance sheet is broken into three categories and provides summations of the company's assets, liabilities, and shareholders' equity on a specific date.
What is cash flow statement?
The cash flow statement provides a view of a company’s overall liquidity by showing cash transaction activities. It reports all cash inflows and outflows over the course of an accounting period with a summation of the total cash available.
What does an analyst look at in a balance sheet?
In some instances, analysts may also look at the total capital of the firm which analyzes liabilities and equity together. In the asset portion of the balance sheet, analysts will typically be looking at long-term assets and how efficiently a company manages its receivables in the short term.
What is an income statement?
The Income Statement. A company's income statement provides details on the revenue a company earns and the expenses involved in its operating activities. Overall, it provides more granular detail on the holistic operating activities of a company.
What are the three parts of a cash flow statement?
Standard cash flow statements will be broken into three parts: operating, investing, and financing. This financial statement highlights the net increase and decrease in total cash in each of these three areas.
What is the most important thing to look at in a financial statement?
Revenue. Revenue or top-line sales is typically one of the most important metrics to look at in the financial statement. You want to see that a company is continuously growing its revenue aka selling more products/services. A rise in a company’s revenue is typically a good sign.
Why do investors use financial statements?
Financial statements are usually used by investors who are interested to “dig into the numbers” and assess the fundamentals of a company . You can look at it as report cards that provide you with an insight into a company’s health and performance. Many people get scared off by the prospect of reading financial statements, ...
Why do companies invest in capital expenditures?
This is typically capital expenditure to ensure that the company can continue to operate smoothly. For example, in Sheng Siong’s case, that could be periodic repair and refurbishment of its supermarket outlets to ensure that they are in proper condition to serve the masses.
How to determine if a company is at risk of default?
One way to see if a company might be at risk of a potential “default” in terms of interest payment is to look at this ratio called the interest coverage ratio. This is calculated based on the following:
What is current asset?
Current Assets – Assets that can be easily converted into cash within 1 year such as receivables or short-term deposits. This can refer to inventories or even receivables that the company may have.
What is cash generated from operations?
Cash generated from operations. This is typically the key focus when it comes to the cash flow statement. We want to know that the company is not only profitable (positive net profit from the income statement) but is also generating cash from its operations.
What is cash flow statement?
As the name suggests, cash flow statements show the amount of cash or cash equivalent moving in and out of the firm. These statements allow investors to know how well the company manages its cash levels to fund operations and debt.

Overview of The Three Financial Statements
- 1. Income Statement
Often, the first place an investor or analyst will look is the income statement. The income statement shows the performance of the business throughout each period, displaying sales revenue at the very top. The statement then deducts the cost of goods sold (COGS) to find gros… - 2. Balance Sheet
The balance sheet displays the company’s assets, liabilities, and shareholders’ equity at a point in time. The two sides of the balance sheet must balance: assets must equal liabilities plus equity. The asset section begins with cash and equivalents, which should equal the balance found at th…
How Are These 3 CORE Statements Used in Financial Modeling?
- As explained above, each of the three financial statements has an interplay of information. Financial modelsuse the trends in the relationship of information within these statements, as well as the trend between periods in historical data to forecast future performance. The preparation and presentation of this information can become quite complicat…
More Resources
- We hope this has been a helpful overview for you of the 3 financial statements. Through financial modeling courses, training, and exercises, anyone in the world can become a great analyst. To continue learning, explore these additional CFI resources: 1. Free Reading Financial Statements Course 2. How to Link the 3 Statements 3. What is Financial Modeling 4. Financial Modeling Bes…