Financial statements are how companies communicate their story. Thanks to GAAP, there are four basic financial statements everyone must prepare . Together they represent the profitability and strength of a company. The financial statement that reflects a company’s profitability is the income statement. The statement of retained earnings - also called statement of owners equity 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 over a period of time. There are several accounting activities that happen before financial statements are prepared. Financial statements are prepared in the following order:
The statement of retained earnings, explains the changes in retained earnings between two balance sheet dates. We start with beginning retained earnings (in our example, the business began in January so we start with a zero balance) and add any net income (or subtract net loss) from the income statement. Next, we subtract any dividends declared (or any owner withdrawals in a partnership or sole-proprietor) to get the Ending balance in Retained Earnings (or capital for non-corporations)
The statement of cash flows shows the cash inflows and cash outflows from operating, investing, and financing activities. Operating activities generally include the cash effects of transactions and other events that enter into the determination of net income. Management is interested in the cash inflows to the company and the cash outflows from the company because these determine the company’s cash it has available to pay its bills when due. We will examine the statement of cash flows in more detail later but for now understand it is a required financial statement and is prepared last. The statement of cash flows uses information from all previous financial statements. Key PointsThere are four financial statements produced by accountants, including
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