The financial statements are the documents that the company must prepare at the end of the accounting year, in order to know the financial situation and the economic results obtained in its activities throughout the period.
The usefulness of accounting information
The information presented in the financial statements interests:
- The administration, for decision making, after knowing the performance, growth and development of the company during a certain period. The owners to know the financial progress of the business and the profitability of their contributions. The creditors, to know the liquidity of the company and the guarantee of compliance with its obligations. The state, to determine if the payment of taxes and contributions is correctly settled.
The basic financial statements are:
- Balance sheet Income statement Statement of changes in equity Statement of changes in financial position (source and application of funds) Statement of cash flows
Responsibility: The financial statements must bear the signatures of those responsible for preparing, reviewing and approving them.
Balance sheet
It is the accounting document that informs on a given date the financial situation of the company, clearly presenting the value of its properties and rights, its obligations and its capital, valued and prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
Only real accounts appear in the balance sheet and their values must correspond exactly to the adjusted balances of the general ledger and auxiliary books.
The balance sheet must be prepared at least once a year and dated December 31, signed by those responsible:
- Accountant Tax Auditor Manager
In the case of companies, it must be approved by the general assembly.
Its structure is presented below:
| Balance sheet (scheme) | ||
| Active | $ ……. | $ ……. |
| Current active | ||
| Available | ||
| Debtors | ||
| Inventories | ||
| Non-current assets | ||
| Property plant and equipment | ||
| Intangibles | ||
| Deferred | ||
| Valuations | ||
| Total assets | ||
| passive | ||
| Current liabilities | ||
| Financial obligations | ||
| Providers | ||
| Debts to pay | ||
| Taxes, levies and fees | ||
| Laboral obligations | ||
| Deferred | ||
| Non-current liabilities | ||
| Other long-term liabilities | ||
| Bonds and commercial papers | ||
| Total liabilities | ||
| Heritage | ||
| Social capital | ||
| Capital surplus | ||
| Bookings | ||
| Capital appreciation | ||
| Profit for the year | ||
| Total assets |
With the video tutorial that you find below (5 videos, 54 minutes), produced by Educatina, you will learn more about the balance sheet structure.
Income statement or profit and loss
It is a complementary document where detailed and orderly information is provided on how the profit for the accounting year was obtained.
The income statement is made up of the nominal, transitory or income accounts, that is, the income, expenses and costs accounts. The values must correspond exactly to the values that appear in the ledger and its auxiliaries, or to the values that appear in the profit and loss section of the worksheet.
| INCOME STATEMENT (Scheme) | |
| SALES | --- |
| (-) Returns and discounts | |
| OPERATING INCOME | |
| (-) Sales cost | |
| GROSS OPERATING INCOME | |
| (-) Operating sales expenses | |
| (-) Operational administrative expenses | |
| OPERATIONAL UTILITY | |
| (+) Non-operating income | |
| (-) Non-operating expenses | |
| NET INCOME BEFORE TAXES | |
| (-) Income and complementary taxes | |
| LIQUID PROFIT | |
| (-) Bookings | |
| PROFIT OF THE EXERCISE |
Through the following video-course (4 videos, 35 minutes), from Educatina, you will be able to learn more about the income statement or profit and loss.
Financial statements are reports on the financial and economic situation of a company in a given period
Statement of changes in equity or statement of surplus
It is the financial statement that shows in detail the contributions of the partners and the distribution of the profits obtained in a period, in addition to the application of the retained earnings in previous periods. This shows the assets of a company separately.
It also shows the difference between stockholders' equity (equity) and share capital (members' contributions), determining the difference between total assets and total liabilities, including the partners' contributions in the liability.
This is the structure of the statement of changes in financial position for limited companies:
| STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN THE FINANCIAL SITUATION (Scheme) | |
| SURPLUS | ----- |
| CAPITAL SURplus | |
| Premium in placement of installments or interest shares | |
| Goodwill | |
| BOOKINGS | |
| Legal reserve | |
| Statutory reserves | |
| Occasional reservations | |
| FINANCIAL YEAR RESULTS | |
| Profit for the year | |
| RESULTS OF PAST EXERCISES | |
| Accumulated profits or surplus | |
| (o) Accumulated losses | |
| REAPPRAISAL SURPLUS | |
| Investment | |
| Property, plant and equipment | |
| TOTAL SURVIVAL |
This is the structure for corporations:
| STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN THE FINANCIAL SITUATION (Scheme) | |
| SURPLUS | ---- |
| CAPITAL SURplus | |
| Share placement premium | |
| Goodwill | |
| BOOKINGS | |
| Legal reserve | |
| Statutory reserves | |
| Occasional reservations | |
| ASSESSMENT OF EQUITY | |
| Share capital | |
| Capital surplus | |
| Of reservations | |
| From results of previous years | |
| DIVIDENDS DECREED IN ACTIONS | |
| FINANCIAL YEAR RESULTS | |
| Profit for the year | |
| RESULTS OF PAST EXERCISES | |
| Accumulated profits or surplus | |
| (o) Accumulated losses | |
| REAPPRAISAL SURPLUS | |
| Investment | |
| Property, plant and equipment | |
| TOTAL SURVIVAL |
In the following video-class, from the Miguel Hernández University, the state of changes in heritage is explained in greater depth.
To learn more about the remaining basic financial statements, we invite you to consult:
