Accounting statements: types and composition. The concept of financial statements

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Accounting statements are a clear system of calculated indicators that demonstrate the actual state of affairs at the enterprise and reflect the results of production and financial activities. It is necessary for the analysis and objective assessment of the performance of the company.

Credentials serve as the basis for its compilation. What are financial statements, types and requirements for their preparation - the topic of this article.

Performed functions

The functionality of financial reporting extends in two directions: the timely provision of reliable information and control over the situation in the company.

Informativeness implies in the reporting the availability of information about the actual state of affairs and the results of the company's activities both in general and for all areas and productions.

Control function is to ensure quality monitoring of the provision of truly reliable information. Similar internalfinancial supervision is carried out for each accounting cycle, i.e. each reporting period ends with the preparation of a financial report, which is the logical conclusion of the period and documentary evidence of the company's results of work.

The concept and types of financial statements

So, the company's reporting is the final stage of accounting work and generalization of information about the property and financial condition of the company. Reporting information is used by external users who evaluate the company's performance (for example, in the industry), as well as for analytical work within the organization. In addition, the head of the company relies on financial reporting data in the implementation of operational management, and for economic services, this is the starting point for planning and subsequent development of production. Reporting is formed on the basis of the principles of reliability and timeliness of accounting transactions, as well as the comparability of the final indicators of the report with similar data from previous periods.

Standard reporting forms have been approved by the current legislation. Financial statements are grouped by type, frequency of submission and level of generalization of accounting information.

What are the reports

According to the regularity of registration, reporting can be annual or intermediate. In accordance with the name, interim reports are compiled for various time periods, for example, for a month, quarter, half a year. The annual one is formed at the end of the year.

Degreegeneralization of data is also different. There are primary reports, drawn up by subsidiaries, and summary reports, which are consolidated, i.e., combining data from all structural divisions of the company.

Forms and types of financial statements

Today there are several types of reporting and many complementary applications. Based on the duration of the period for which it was formed, any of its types can be considered both annual and intermediate.

Accounting statements, the types of which are considered in this review, are represented by the balance sheet and reports to it:

• P&L;

• capital change;

• cash flow.

The listed forms constitute a mandatory package of intra-annual quarterly reporting. The annual is supplemented by the following reports:

• supplement to the balance sheet (Form No. 5):

• an explanatory note providing detailed information on the operations performed;

• Auditor's report drawn up based on the results of the verification of reporting data.

The specifics of the company contributes to the addition of other reports to the specified package. For example, public organizations annually report on the targeted allocation of funds by compiling an appropriate form, and for various industry companies, departmental reports are approved and agreed with the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.

The current legislation approved special standard reporting forms andrecommendations for completing them. Each of the listed reports discloses its specific information. Let's talk about each of them.

Balance sheet

The balance sheet, being the main form, precedes the types and composition of the financial statements of any enterprise. It is a table, in the first two sections of which all the company's assets (property and working capital) are listed in value terms, in the third, fourth and fifth - the sources of formation of these assets, i.e. funds, capital, reserves and loans. The construction of the balance sheet is based on the equality of the amount of assets to the amount of financial costs. It indicates only the balances of indicators at the beginning of the reporting period and its end.

Growth dynamics, changes or movement of this or that indicator during the entire analyzed period in the balance can be seen only in general absolute figures, fixing the growth or decrease in value. The most detailed information is provided by the reports attached to the balance sheet.

Income Statement

Among the reports that supplement the main form, this form dominates, positioning the types of financial statements of the organization. It contains information about the income received and the costs incurred, reflecting the dynamics of the production process. The financial result calculated from the beginning of the year on an accrual basis is calculated by calculation. This form makes it possible to objectively evaluate the company's activities for the billing period.

This report, along with the balance sheet, are mandatoryfor enterprises of all forms of ownership, including small businesses.

Statement of changes in equity

Not mandatory for small organizations, this report is included in the main set of financial forms and complements the types of financial statements of the enterprise. It summarizes information showing changes in the authorized and other capitals of the company - reserve, additional, as well as the amount of retained earnings.

The form has two parts. The first contains information about the available capital in the last reporting period, the second part is devoted to information for the period under consideration. The information in this report deciphers the balance sheet indicators concentrated in the third section.

Cash flow statement

Types of financial statements are complemented by a specific form showing the dynamics of the movement of the company's most liquid assets - cash. Data on actual receipts and outflows of financial resources are presented in comparison with the data of the previous period, which involves an analysis of the dynamics of the movement of the asset. The information presented in the report is based on the data of the second section of the balance sheet, which contains information about the company's working capital.

Financial reporting requirements

The information provided in the reporting forms is the most important source of information about the state of affairs in the company. Therefore, the financial statements, the types of which are described in this article, provide for a number of requirements. To theminclude reliability, integrity, relevance. To ensure them, at the end of the financial year, the enterprise conducts an inventory of all accounting accounts - property, production assets and stocks, cash, liabilities and debts.

In addition, the submission of financial statements must be carried out within a certain time frame, all the necessary information and details are filled in the sheets of reports, stamps are affixed. Accounting statements, their types required for a separate company, are approved by the appropriate signatures.