The balance sheet provides you and your co-owners, lenders and management with essential information about your company's financial position. The income statement and cash flow statement provide you ...

A vertical analysis is used to show the relative sizes of the different accounts on a financial statement. For example, when a vertical analysis is done on an income statement, it will show the top ...

Even though the income statement normally attracts the most attention from investors, the balance sheet is the true starting point for understanding a company’s financial position. It shows how much a ...

Vikki Velasquez is a researcher and writer who has managed, coordinated, and directed various community and nonprofit organizations. She has conducted in-depth research on social and economic issues ...

Joseph Nguyen is a contributing author at Investopedia and a research analyst with experience at a securities brokerage firm. Charlene Rhinehart is a CPA , CFE, chair of an Illinois CPA Society ...

When you want to know a company’s financial health, it helps to look at its balance sheet. But if you’ve never seen a balance sheet before or don’t know how to read one, all you’ll see is a collection ...

Every publicly traded company issues a series of financial statements at least on a quarterly basis, and the balance sheet is perhaps the statement most indicative of a company’s financial health. A ...

Balance sheets consist of assets, liabilities, and shareholders' equity, revealing financial health. Shareholders' equity equals assets minus liabilities and reflects theoretical investor value if a ...