Financial statement | Examples, Format, & Use (2024)

financial statement, any report of the financial condition or of the financial results of the operations of a business, a government, or other organization. The term is most often used in a more limited sense in trade and financial circles to refer to the balance sheet, statement of income, and statement of retained earnings of a business. The balance sheet shows, as of a certain date, the amount and kinds of assets (properties) and liabilities (debts) and the owners’ investment (excess of assets over liabilities). The balance sheet indicates the liquidity of the concern and its probable solvency. Liquidity is measured by the readiness with which assets may be converted into cash. Solvency is measured by the firm’s ability to meet its debts when due.

Comparative balance sheets showing the financial condition of a business for two or more years reveal financial tendencies, changes in response to varying business conditions, and policies on such matters as debt repayment and expansion of the ownership investment by retained earnings. The statement of income or earnings statement summarizes those transactions which have brought gain or loss to the owners during a period of time, usually a year, between two successive balance sheets. Accountants ordinarily divide this statement into a statement of income (or profit-and-loss statement) and a statement of retained earnings (or earned surplus). The latter includes items that are not strictly profit or loss, such as dividends, arbitrary reductions in the valuation of fixed property, or items that relate to the earnings of an earlier period, such as the revision of the tax liability of an earlier year. Some accountants regard it as improper to place these latter adjustments of prior years’ gains or losses in this surplus section lest an unskillful reader overlook them in studying the earnings over a period of years. The preference is to show such adjustments in the regular income statement suitably segregated.

Earnings statements are useful in portraying the elements of profitability when details are given on sales or gross revenues, cost of goods sold, and certain expenses such as depreciation, maintenance, taxes, interest, and rents. Good form calls for the separation of income and expenses derived from the main operations, such as the trading activities of a merchant, from similar data related to other activities, such as interest and dividends from investments or other nonoperating income. Extraordinary and nonrecurring gains and losses together with any related income taxes should be separately stated. Where the total earnings are summed up in the single figure of “earnings per share of stock,” a figure that excludes extraordinary items is often preferred. Such a figure is a representative or normal measure of earnings. Good practice requires the reporting of figures that both include and exclude such items. Whether a particular unusual item is likely to recur in the future may depend upon whether a short- or long-run point of view is taken.

The earnings statement is ostensibly a mere record of the past. However, as in other fields, the reader projects this historical experience in judging the probable future. Debates over proper form often hinge upon the debaters’ ideas as to the probable way in which the reader is likely to think or react. Because statements are read for a variety of purposes, no single form can satisfy all persons. Adequate disclosure of material details enables informed and competent persons to derive the kinds of information that will serve their various needs. The past record of earnings has the greatest utility in gauging the future where the business offers goods or services that are bought frequently and habitually. Demand and earnings fluctuate most where technology changes, style alters frequently, raw materials vary greatly in cost, or durability or luxury character causes irregular buying. Mergers, the acquisition or sale of properties, and the development of new products also limit the utility of using past earnings as a measure of future performance.

Users of statements

The more important users of financial statements are: (1) short-term creditors; (2) investors; (3) business management; and (4) government agencies. Commercial banks who extend short-term credit may rely on a prospective debtor’s previous record of bill payment rather than upon precise financial information. Experience has shown, however, that such credit can be extended more freely and with less risk, especially to small businesses, when statements are available. Attention of the short-term creditor centres on the balance sheet, especially on the current assets, consisting of cash and liquid investments, stocks of merchandise (inventories), and amounts owed by customers (accounts receivable) as they relate to short-term debts.

Investors in bonds or stocks tend to place primary emphasis upon the earnings statements and less upon the balance sheet, save as the latter suggests risk because of unliquidity and insolvency. When commercial banks extend term loans that are to be repaid systematically over a period of years, they have an interest in the statement of income because they depend for repayment more upon future earnings and less upon existing current assets. Ability to repay debt depends primarily upon cash flow from operations. This term includes retained earnings and depreciation expense. Retained earnings represent the excess of cash inflow from revenues, less outflow from expenses and dividend distributions. Depreciation is added because, although an expense, it represents no cash outflow during the accounting period but a write down of assets previously acquired. Sometimes a statement of the sources and uses of funds is presented. Sources include cash flow from operations and amounts realized from the sale of assets and of the company’s securities; uses or applications include the reduction of debt or other obligations, the purchase of fixed assets, and additions to working capital.

A widening ownership of large business corporations makes fuller disclosure through financial statements a natural development. Such statements may have little utility for many individuals but are essential to investment advisers and financial institutions whose appraisals largely determine market opinion. Business management finds detailed statements valuable. Comparison with the statements of other members of the industry is used to discover conformity to customary practice and to study relative operating achievement.

Standardized financial statements are the essential basis for many phases of governmental regulation and the taxation of business. When prices are regulated, especially as for public utilities, financial statements disclose the level of earnings and how they conform to the standard set by policy. Statements permit the study of a corporation’s finances to determine the suitability of its securities for acquisition by regulated investment institutions, such as insurance companies and banks. When securities are widely owned by individuals who are not in a position to enforce adequate statement information, the government may then set up requirements for the disclosure of material financial information.