External Auditing of Financial Statements: Its Importance to Your Company and Business

Do you have your own company? Do you prepare financial statements for tax, loans and other compliance purposes? If yes, then you may already experience appointing a C.P.A. (Certified Public Accountant) to audit your financial statements. According to GAAS (Generally Accepted Auditing Standards), auditing is a systematic process of objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence regarding assertions about economic actions and events to ascertain the degree of correspondence between those assertions and established criteria and communicating the results to interested users. Read more

Knowing and understanding what is Statement of Changes in Equity

A statement of changes in equity shows all changes in owner’s equity for a period of time. According to IAS 1, this statement of financial reporting is one the five components of complete financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, statement of changes in equity, statement of cash flow and notes to financial statements.

IAS 1 requires an entity to present a statement of changes in equity as a separate component of the financial statements. The statement must show: [IAS 1.96]

(a) profit or loss for the period;

(b) each item of income and expense for the period that is recognised directly in equity, and the total of those items; Read more

How do the cash flow statement flows?

After understanding your financial condition and performance by reading your balance sheet and income statement, you may now have the picture of how your business is running. However, seeing a positive equity in your balance sheet or a profit in your income statement doesn’t make your financial understanding complete. The cash flow statement is one of the five main financial statements of a company. The cash flow statement tells us how sustainable a company is in a short run. If cash is increasing and cash flow generated by operations is positive, then we can tell that a company is healthy in the short-term. Increasing or stable cash balances means that a company is capable of meeting its cash needs, and remain solvent. This information cannot always be seen in the balance sheet or income statement of a company. For example a company may be generating profit, but still it cannot meet or pay its short –term payables or obligations. Read more

Understanding the Balance Sheet

A balance sheet is a formal statement showing the financial position of an entity as of a particular date. The balance sheet is the only financial statement that reports as of a particular date compare to income statement, statement of changes in equity, and cash flows which all reports for a particular period of time. The balance sheet presents the three elements of financial position, namely assets, liabilities and equity.

Assets are defined as resources controlled by the entity as a result of past transactions and events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the company. In layman’s language these are the properties owned by the entity. Read more

Elements and components of a complete set of financial statements

Financial statements are often described as the language of business. These statements tell the condition and performance of a business historically, currently and prospectively. They are the tongues of businesses that communicate with their users and readers.

Financial statements are the formal end product or main output of a business’ financial accounting process. These are the means by which the information accumulated and processed in financial accounting is periodically communicated to the users.

General purpose financial statements are those intended to serve users who do not have the authority to demand financial reports tailored for their own needs. The objective of general purpose financial statements is to Read more

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