Financial Statements Examples

Financial statements are used for recording the business activities and transactions of business entities. These statements are known as accounts, however, accountants prefer using the term 'financial statement'. One gets an idea of the assets and debts of a company through financial statements. The information about transactions and turnover of a company obtained through this statement gives an idea of its financial condition. Let us find more about financial statements through this article.

What are Financial Statements?
These are records/statements used for maintaining the data of business/financial activities of an organization or individual. The definition of financial statement can be simply stated as, a document which provides an overview of the financial condition of a business entity. Financial statements are presented in a proper structured format and the information given through them is easy to understand.

The 4 basic types of financial statements are income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and the statement of retained earnings. The analysis of financial statements helps in understanding the current financial condition of an organization. Those statements prepared for dummies are simple in their format. Income statement for dummies include elements like sales, net revenue, gross income, net income, gross profit, net profit, etc.

Financial Statements Examples
The financial statements examples mentioned below are the 4 basic statements which provide information about transactions taking place in an organization. The financial statements templates presented in the article make use of the format specified by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of the United States of America.

Balance Sheet: The financial statements balance sheets present a summary of an organization's balances. Liabilities, assets and ownership equity of a company are listed in the balance sheet. The balance sheet is one of the important financial statements of business entities. Information presented in the balance sheet shows data particular to the point of time when it is generated. Format of the balance sheet of a small organization is presented below.

Assets	Amount	Owner's Equity	Amount
Current Assets	-	Owner's Equity Before Deduction	-
Fixed Tangible Assets	-	Treasury Stock	-
Other Assets	-	Long Term Liabilities	-
Total	-	Total	-
Liabilities	Amount
Current Liabilities	-
Deferred Taxes	-
Long term Liabilities	-
Total	-

Income Statement: It is known as the 'Profit and Loss Statement'. The income statement presents data regarding the transformation of revenue to net income. The expenses and costs incurred against revenue are displayed along with the taxes and write-offs. The write-offs include information about amortization and depreciation of assets. The objective or purpose of preparing an income statement is to understand whether a company has recorded profit or loss during the given period of time. The income statement includes information about net income earned and is calculated by subtracting expenses from revenue. The following equation and template gives us an idea about how income statements are generated.

Net Income = Revenue - Expenses

Revenues	Amount
Net Sales	-
Rental Revenue	-
Total	-
Expenses Incurred	Amount
Cost of Goods	-
Wages	-
Utilities	-
Supplies	-
Total	-
Net Income	Amount
Revenues - Expenses	-
Total	-

Cash Flow Statement: In order to determine the cash flow in an organization, one has to consider the factors like financing, investment, and core operations. The current operations taking place in an organization and the changes in the balance sheet which occur due to these operations are recorded in the cash flow statements.

Cash Flow	Amount
Cash Flow from Investing	-
Operations Cash Flow	-
Cash Flow from Financing	-

Statement of Retained Earnings: The statement of retained earnings provides us with information about changes that take place in the retained earnings of an organization over a period of time. The term 'retained earnings' refers to part of net income that is not distributed in the form of dividends but retained by the company. The retained earnings statements can be presented along income statements in combination with balance sheets or separately. The statement is needed whenever a comparative study of income statements and balance sheets is required to be done. The following equation explains the concept of retained earnings in a better manner.

Ending Retained Earnings = Beginning Retained Earnings - Dividends Paid + Net Income

The financial statements for non-profit organizations should include statement of activities, the financial position and cash flow information. The financial statement samples provided in the article above thus, explain to us how records of financial transactions are maintained.