A financial report provides a detailed snapshot of your company’s economic assets and liabilities. It’s an important tool for investors, lenders and management to understand your company’s past performance and potential future trajectory. It also helps you spot opportunities for cost-cutting and forecasting.
Financial reporting includes the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. A balance sheet lists the company’s assets (cash, accounts receivable, inventory), liabilities (accounts payable, short-term loans) and stockholders’ equity at a point in time, typically at the end of a fiscal period. It must follow the accounting equation of assets = liabilities + stockholders’ equity.
An income statement reveals the company’s revenue, expenses and net income/(loss) for a given fiscal period and is usually presented in comparison to prior periods. The cash flow statement is a record of the company’s inflows and outflows of cash, including operating, investing and financing activities. It is often a component of the annual report and must be prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Lastly, there are regulatory filings like the 10-K and 10-Q for publicly-traded companies as well as state tax reports for privately held companies. These filings require adherence to rigid external deadlines and are typically required by law.
Whether you are creating internal or external reports, a financial analysis workflow with real-time analytics and automation can save your business time and resources. Glue Up automatically collects, organizes and formats financial data in templates and custom dashboards to create comprehensive financial documents, reducing manual data entry and errors.