Getting Your Finances In Order
Preparing Financial Statements - Small Business Administration
Understanding financial statements is essential to the success of a small business. They can be used as a roadmap to steer you in the right direction and help you avoid costly breakdowns. Financial statements have a value that goes far beyond preparing tax returns or applying for loans.
Below you will find information on the primary financial statements: the balance sheet and the income statement.
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The balance sheet is a snapshot of your business financials. It includes assets, and liabilities and net worth. The "bottom line" of a balance sheet must always include (assets = liabilities + net worth). The individual elements of a balance sheet change from day to day and reflect the activities of a business. Analyzing how the balance sheet changes over time will reveal important financial information about a business. It can help you can monitor your ability to collect revenues, manage your inventory, and assess your ability to satisfy creditors and stockholders.
http://www.sba.gov/ombudsman/704...
Preparing Financial Statements For A Business Sale
Increase the chances of a successful sale by preparing your financial statements. Nearly every buyer will ask to see your financial statements at some point during the process of looking at your business. This typically happens fairly early in the process.
Are your financials straightforward, accurate, and easy to understand? If you are like most business owners, then you have probably not prepared your financial statements with the goal in mind to sell your business. Many business owners’ financial statements are often inaccurate, are full of contradictions, are incomplete, are sometimes completely unavailable, and most importantly, are not designed to help you sell your business. Most financial statements we see do not show the "real” profit of the business, but rather include unreported income or inflated expenses; all which lower the value of the business.
http://www.morganandwestfield.co...
Financial Statement Preparation
Even if your business isn't publicly traded, preparing financial statements on a monthly or quarterly business should be an important business tool in your management decisions. Financial statement preparation works as a scorecard to help you determine how your business is doing currently, how it compares to last year and help you identify any fluctuations in sales or accounts receivable.
Analyzing financial statements also becomes crucial when you seek financing for your business. Lenders look for financial information in a specific format. We understand this process, and can not only prepare financial statements in the format lenders prefer, but also walk you through this information and discuss any areas that might raise questions from lenders. This way, you'll be better prepared for the discussion you'll have in your loan meeting.
http://www.reacpa.com/financial-...
Understanding Financial Statements
Generally an accounting department, a bookkeeper or the owner of a business systematically records, sorts and summarizes the thousands of documents (register tapes, invoices and vouchers) representing the transactions of business. These transactions include: sale of merchandise; payroll distribution; material purchases for inventory - to mention just a few. These facts are then compiled, classified and summarized into financial reports for a business so that a financial statement can then be prepared.
Financial statements are customarily prepared on a quarterly, biannual or annual basis. The date of a financial statement is of considerable importance. Most are usually drawn up on a yearly (fiscal) basis. Statements provided that are outside of the fiscal closing are known as interim statements.
http://www.dnb.com/customer-serv...
Preparing Financial Statements
Filed under Bookkeeping. Fact checked on May 24, 2012.
Financial statements, though often feared as a very intimidating portion of small business accounting, are just a matter of putting the trial balance amounts onto properly formatted statements. Learn how to prepare these documents you'll need for shareholders, potential financiers and your own insight.
After you have prepared your adjusting entries in the general journal, posted the general journal totals to the general ledger, and footed the general ledger accounts, you are ready to prepare financial statements. Like most of the accounting tasks we've reviewed, your accounting software can alleviate much of the legwork.
http://www.bizfilings.com/toolki...