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The Four Statements used in Acounting Today

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In the world of accounting, there are four basic financial statements that are necessary to track finances. The four basic financial statements used in accounting day-to-day are the balance sheet, income statement, retained earnings statement, and the statement of cash flows. All of these statements are interrelated and would not function without the other. Most importantly each of the basic four financial statements is extremely important to both internal and external users to track assets, liabilities, expenses, and revenues.
Assets, liabilities, expenses, and revenues are the four areas that are tracked on the four basic financial statements. To start tracking these four areas, an accountant would start with the balance sheet. The balance sheet is used to give a preview of a particular time period of how much a company owns and what it owes. The balance sheet details the balance of the company’s income and expenditure over the specific time period. Assets such as cash, property, and inventory are detailed on one side while liabilities such as accounts payable and long-term debt are listed on the opposite side of the balance sheet (Kimmel & Weygandt, ,2010). The income statement measures a company’s financial performance over a specific period of time. Revenues and expenses are assessed with a summary through operating and non-operating expenses. A net profit or loss is also shown on the balance sheet and is typically shown for a fiscal quarter or year (Kimmel & Weygandt,

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