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Four Types of Financial Statements

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The Four Types of Financial Statements
ACC/561 Version 4
December 22, 2012

Much success in today’s business world is tied in with numbers in the form of accounting and financial statements. Being able to understand and properly read these statements is a critical component in truly knowing a business and properly assessing its overall performance. In the accounting world there are four main financial statements that are universally understood and prepared for most publically traded companies and many small and medium sized businesses: the income statement, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows, and the statement of retained earnings (sometimes referred to as shareholders’ equity). A fundamental ability to properly …show more content…

This practice also reduces a company’s need to turn to outside financing, which also saves on the expense of borrowing money. Investors make great use of this particular financial statement to help in deciding where to sink their money, basing the decision in large part on whether a company typically pays higher dividends or reinvests its profits in itself (in many cases leading to a higher stock price instead). While each of the four financial statements contains specific information tailored to differing aspects of a company’s performance, there are relationships between them which warrant mention. The balance sheet depicts assets which include cash, yet the statement of cash flows goes a step further in explaining the origin and actual use of the firm’s cash reserves. As mentioned, a company’s retained earnings make an appearance on the first line of the income statement as the retained earnings are a direct function and result of net income. Retained earnings are also considered an asset and consequently appear on the balance sheet as well. Evidently there are items contained within these statements that have a direct impact on each other. The value of these statements will depend largely on the perspective of the particular user. As touched on above, investor’s will take great interest in the statement of retained earnings as

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