What Is the Key Information in a Financial Statement? (2024)

Companies typically prepare four key financial statements on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis: the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and statement of owners' equity. Each statement carries particular information that collectively provides a view of the financial health of the business.

Balance Sheet

  1. The balance sheet offers an overall perspective of a company's financial situation. It includes current and long-term assets, current and long-term liabilities and the amount of owners' equity. Comparing current assets to current liabilities allows you to see how well your business can cover its short-term debt. High cash liquidity, meaning your cash and other liquid assets easily cover near-term debt, is an important financial consideration. Similarly, comparing total assets to total debt helps you see how much debt leverage you currently have.

Income Statement

  1. The income statement is a current picture of the company's earnings that lays out three key profit levels -- gross, operating and net. Gross profit equals revenue minus costs of goods sold. Operating profit equals gross profit minus fixed costs, such as building rent and utilities. Then, you subtract irregular expenses, like legal costs, and add irregular revenue to derive net income. Comparing the various profit amounts to revenue lets you see how efficiently your business turns revenue on goods and services into profit. This is helpful when considering needs to make price adjustments or negotiate costs.

Cash Flow Statement

  1. The cash flow statement shows the net change in cash inflow and outflow in three areas -- operating, financing and investing. The change in operating cash flow shows how much cash you generated or burned from regular business activities. Financing and investing changes relate to finance decisions or investment gains and losses. While increasing cash flow is generally favorable, paying out dividends or investing excess cash in new development could lead to a low change in cash or even a negative cash flow.

Owners' Equity Statement

  1. The owners' equity statement shows the value of the business. It includes the value of stock held by owners as well as the amount of retained earnings your business has accumulated. High retained earnings means you have accumulated significant earnings over time and have a safety net. Low retained earnings may mean your business has not accumulated substantial earnings or you have paid out dividends to owners.

What Is the Key Information in a Financial Statement? (2024)

FAQs

What Is the Key Information in a Financial Statement? ›

The line items in a financial statement will vary from one corporation to the next, but the most common among them are revenues, costs of goods sold, taxes, cash, marketable securities, inventory, short-term debt, long-term debt, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and cash flows from investing, operating, and ...

What is key financial information? ›

Statement of financial position (balance sheet); Statement of income and expense (profit and loss account); Statement of cash flows (cash flow statement); Statement of changes in equity; and. Notes to the accounts.

What are the three 3 key information required in the financial section? ›

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 information is included in a financial statement? ›

The three main types of financial statements are the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement. These three statements together show the assets and liabilities of a business, its revenues, and costs, as well as its cash flows from operating, investing, and financing activities.

What are the key elements of the major financial statements? ›

The major elements of the financial statements (i.e., assets, liabilities, fund balance/net assets, revenues, expenditures, and expenses) are discussed below, including the proper accounting treatments and disclosure requirements.

What is considered as the key in the preparation of financial statements? ›

The key components of financial statement preparation include the balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, and statement of stockholders' equity. These components provide a comprehensive view of a company's financial position, performance, cash flows, and changes in equity.

What are the key financial information in a business plan? ›

The financial section is composed of four financial statements: the income statement, the cash flow projection, the balance sheet, and the statement of shareholders' equity. It also should include a brief explanation and analysis of these four statements.

What is the most important financial statement? ›

Types of Financial Statements: Income Statement. Typically considered the most important of the financial statements, an income statement shows how much money a company made and spent over a specific period of time.

What are the contents of the three key financial statements? ›

The income statement illustrates the profitability of a company under accrual accounting rules. The balance sheet shows a company's assets, liabilities, and shareholders' equity at a particular point in time. The cash flow statement shows cash movements from operating, investing, and financing activities.

What do financial statements include? ›

Financial statements can be divided into four categories: balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, and equity statements.

What are the 4 key financial statements? ›

There are four primary types of financial statements:
  • Balance sheets.
  • Income statements.
  • Cash flow statements.
  • Statements of shareholders' equity.
Nov 1, 2023

What are the basic components of a financial statement? ›

The components of Financial Statements are the building blocks that together form the Financial Statements and help understand the business's financial health. And consists of an Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement, and Shareholders' Equity Statement.

What information is not included in financial statements? ›

No Qualitative Information: Financial statements contain only monetary information but not qualitative information like industrial relations, industrial climate, labour relations, quality of work, etc. They are Only Interim Reports: Profit and loss account discloses the profit/loss for a specified period.

What are key financial statements used for financial analysis? ›

Financial statement analysis is used by internal and external stakeholders to evaluate business performance and value. Financial accounting calls for all companies to create a balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement, which form the basis for financial statement analysis.

What are the three-three accounting values? ›

Elements of Accounting: Assets, Liabilities, and Capital.

What are the three position elements of the financial statement? ›

It is possible to summarize the three elements which, as a whole, generate the balance sheet for a company as the following: Assets. Liabilities. Shareholders' Equity.

What is an example of financial information? ›

Examples of financial information are credit card numbers, credit ratings by third party credit analysis firms, financial statements, and payment histories. Anyone using financial information has a duty to keep the information secure, since it could be used by third parties to engage in identity theft.

What is considered financial information? ›

Definition: Financial information

Simply put, financial information is anything related to the financial activities and performance of a business. Most often, this information is collected through financial statements or reports that cover a specific aspect of a business's finances, such as cash flow and profitability.

What are the 5 financial information? ›

Here's why these five financial documents are essential to your small business. The five key documents include your profit and loss statement, balance sheet, cash-flow statement, tax return, and aging reports.

What is the meaning of key financials? ›

Key ratios are the primary financial ratios used to illustrate and summarize the current financial condition of a company. They are produced by comparing different line items from the subject's financial statements. Analysts and investors use key ratios to see how companies stack up against their peers.

References

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