Key Pointers to Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Statements

An income statement, also known as a profit and loss statement shows how much money a company has spent over a period of time. It also shows the costs and expenses that are associated with earning that revenue. It is an important measure of the company’s profitability. The simple building blocks of a net income formula are revenues minus expenses equal net income.

All of LT’s distributions, whether in the form of dividends or stock repurchases will be taxed at the investors personal rate. Buy shares and keeping cash in the firm will depend of the tax rate of the investors relative to that of the firm. Under the former option the money is taxed at the corporate rate and in the latter at personal rate.

A profit and loss account is supposed to show a businesses’ income and expenditures and calculate the company’s net profit or loss based on the difference between those numbers. It is really useful in determining past performance and to try to predict future

Debit Retained Earnings $96,000; credit Common Stock Dividend Distributable $80,000; credit Paid-In Capital in Excess of Par Value, Common Stock $16,000.

a.) The income statement, also called the profit & loss account (P & L), is used to illustrate a company’s revenues and expenses over a particular period of time. It shows the net profit and/or loss for the given period (the difference between the business’ total income and its total costs). It also allows shareholders to see the performance of the business and if it has made an acceptable profit.

When a company decides to pay dividends, it has to be careful on how much it will be given to the shareholders. It is of no use to pay shareholders dividends

A profit and loss account is intended to show a business its income and expenditures and calculate the company’s net profit or loss based upon the difference between those figures. It is extremely useful in determining past performance and to try and predict future results. It enables a business to see what changes could make to improve on its profit. It also give enough information to help a business to set targets.

* A balance sheet is snapshot of the financials for that organization (with assets on the left and liabilities on the right side) for that particular date that was requested

The income statement (IS) also known as the profit & loss statement provides the net gain or net loss of a business entity. The importance of the income statement is to evaluate profitability of a company (Finkler, Jones, and Koyner, 2013). The best use of the IS,

This is the source of the value of the company to its stockholders and to the stock market analyst (Yahoo Finance, 2013). The Balance Sheet may also indicate a negative Shareholder Equity which means the shareholders are losing money. The Balance Sheet also illustrates the trends in borrowing the company has used in the last year. The long term debts that are listed on the balance sheet compared to assets may indicate a problem if the debts are called in by the loaner for some unforeseen reason. There are multiple methods or ratios for determining the future profitability of a company indicated by the line items on the balance sheet (Mertz.J., 2000).

Since the net income reported in the statement of cash flows is transferred from the profit and loss account which is the difference between revenue and expenditures all of two types;

Profit and loss, incorporating sales, cost of sales, operating expenses, and profits. This of course is also a pro forma income statement. In most cases it should show sales less cost of sales as gross margin, and gross margin less operating expenses as profit before interest and taxes (also called gross profit, and contribution to overhead). Normally there is also a projection of interest, taxes, and net profits.

Looking into the annual dividends, an interim dividend of 3c per share was paid on 10/04/2015 which was 100% fully franked with a 30% tax rate. Also for the previous financial year a 4c final dividend was paid on 10/10/2014

In practice, dividend policy will be affected by taxes as tax rates for different categories of investors will differ. Also, a firm’s dividend policy is perceived by the financial markets to be a signaling mechanism. A cut back in dividends may signify that the firm perceives tough

It is important for every business to carry out financial statement analysis in order to gain an understanding of their current financial status. There are two main types of financial statements that businesses commonly use when it comes to financial analysis. These are known as the Profit and Loss Account and the Statement of Financial Position. A profit and loss account consists of a list of expenses incurred by the company, against their revenues over a certain period of time. It shows whether the organisation