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Edmonton CPA | Learning About Financial Statements

When entrepreneurs are able to read and understand their financial statements says Edmonton CPA, they become better able to make informed financial decisions in their business. What this does is increase the ability to grow their business as well as make financial decisions that can benefit their business. Industry Canada says that 50% of all entrepreneurs fail than five years, and 29% of those failed businesses say the reason why they failed is because they ran out of money. Helping entrepreneurs make more informed financial decisions can help them avoid running out of money, so that they can grow their business and be successful.

However, many entrepreneurs struggle with not only understanding their financial statements, but even knowing that they should be reviewing them on a regular basis as well. Edmonton CPA recommends that in addition to reviewing the financial statements with their accountant at the end of the year. Businesses also need to be reviewing their interim financial statements regularly. Their bookkeeper or accountant should be sending them the interim financial statements. Business owners should be reviewing these financial statements prior to any financial decisions they make. Whether they are making a decision to run payroll, hire or lay staff off, pay bills or even pay themselves. Looking at all of the financial statements in order to understand what the best decision will be can significantly benefit business owners.

In order to starts to understand the financial statements, business owners should understand that there are three different components that make up a financial statement. These three components are the statement of retained earnings, the balance sheet and the income statement. A business owner should learn how to read each of these statements independently and understand the information their communicating and then, learn from their Edmonton CPA how to read them together in order to make fiscal decisions.

The first financial statement that an entrepreneur should be looking at is the balance sheet. The reason why, is because this provides an overview of the entire businesses finances and gives an entrepreneur clear picture of how much money they have. The balance sheet will have a list of all of the assets at the top, in order of how easy it is to make liquid. Cash first, then Accounts Receivable, inventory, and probably including vehicles, machines and equipment and buildings and real estate. Second, the balance sheet list liabilities including all of the payments that entrepreneurs need to make and accounts payable. Finally, the balance sheet will show the equity in the business including share capital and retained earnings. By adding up with the equity to the liability, an entrepreneur should get the value of the assets.

Starting with understanding the balance sheet can help an entrepreneur gain an understanding of the overall financial picture of their business. Edmonton CPA says they should then start learning the other financial statements, but as long as they start with this, they are going to be further ahead in understanding their business finances than they were they did not are how to read any of their financial statements at all.

Edmonton CPA | learning about financial statements

One problem that entrepreneurs often have according to Edmonton CPA is they do not understand their own business finances. In fact, into it, the software company wanted to find out how much financial literacy is owners had. They surveyed small business owners in order to test them on business finances. 82% of all the owners who respond to the survey scored less than 70%. This shows that many entrepreneurs struggle with understanding at least some aspects of their businesses financials.

In order to help business owners improve this skill, Edmonton CPA recommends that entrepreneurs learn to read their financial statements in order to make informed financial decisions in their business. Understanding that the financial statements is referring to a group of reports including the income statement, statement of retained earnings and balance sheet is important. The first place to start is understanding the balance sheet. However, once an entrepreneur understands this, the next thing that they should learn about is the income statement.

The income statement going to show entrepreneurs how profitable the business that has been through a specific timeframe. The information on the statement will show an entrepreneur how much revenue is generated and then the expenses that were incurred. The result will show a net income or net loss in the business. Edmonton CPA says that entrepreneurs often make the mistake of thinking that they can look at the income statement alone in order to make financial decisions. However it should be noted that even though the income statement shows the profitability of certain timeframe, that does not necessarily indicate how profitable the business on a whole is.

Finally, Edmonton CPA says the last report in a financial statement is the statement of retained earnings. But this is is accumulative balance of the income or profits that have been left in the corporation. If an entrepreneur has paid themselves or any other shareholder dividends out of retained earnings, this will be subtracted off of the earnings that are left. Not only this, but it will be a report that is running over the entire time of the corporation. If an entrepreneur is planning on taking dividends, this is a report that they should be looking at.

The last thing that entrepreneurs should know about all of the various reports the financial statement, is that they all should be just a single page. Edmonton CPA says the reason why, is so that they can be easily read, easily understood, and that can help entrepreneurs use the information to make financial decisions. When an entrepreneur opens their business, understanding the financial statements is important. The sooner they will be able to understand and use these reports to guide their financial decisions the better. This can help entrepreneurs not only avoid making mistakes, but help them gain an understanding about how to use the information to grow their business as well.
Edmonton CPA | learning about financial statements

When entrepreneurs are able to read and understand their financial statements says Edmonton CPA, they become better able to make informed financial decisions in their business. What this does is increase the ability to grow their business as well as make financial decisions that can benefit their business. Industry Canada says that 50% of all entrepreneurs fail than five years, and 29% of those failed businesses say the reason why they failed is because they ran out of money. Helping entrepreneurs make more informed financial decisions can help them avoid running out of money, so that they can grow their business and be successful.

However, many entrepreneurs struggle with not only understanding their financial statements, but even knowing that they should be reviewing them on a regular basis as well. Edmonton CPA recommends that in addition to reviewing the financial statements with their accountant at the end of the year. Businesses also need to be reviewing their interim financial statements regularly. Their bookkeeper or accountant should be sending them the interim financial statements. Business owners should be reviewing these financial statements prior to any financial decisions they make. Whether they are making a decision to run payroll, hire or lay staff off, pay bills or even pay themselves. Looking at all of the financial statements in order to understand what the best decision will be can significantly benefit business owners.

In order to starts to understand the financial statements, business owners should understand that there are three different components that make up a financial statement. These three components are the statement of retained earnings, the balance sheet and the income statement. A business owner should learn how to read each of these statements independently and understand the information their communicating and then, learn from their Edmonton CPA how to read them together in order to make fiscal decisions.

The first financial statement that an entrepreneur should be looking at is the balance sheet. The reason why, is because this provides an overview of the entire businesses finances and gives an entrepreneur clear picture of how much money they have. The balance sheet will have a list of all of the assets at the top, in order of how easy it is to make liquid. Cash first, then Accounts Receivable, inventory, and probably including vehicles, machines and equipment and buildings and real estate. Second, the balance sheet list liabilities including all of the payments that entrepreneurs need to make and accounts payable. Finally, the balance sheet will show the equity in the business including share capital and retained earnings. By adding up with the equity to the liability, an entrepreneur should get the value of the assets.

Starting with understanding the balance sheet can help an entrepreneur gain an understanding of the overall financial picture of their business. Edmonton CPA says they should then start learning the other financial statements, but as long as they start with this, they are going to be further ahead in understanding their business finances than they were they did not are how to read any of their financial statements at all.

Edmonton CPA | Learning About Financial Statements

One problem that entrepreneurs often have according to Edmonton CPA is they do not understand their own business finances. In fact, into it, the software company wanted to find out how much financial literacy is owners had. They surveyed small business owners in order to test them on business finances. 82% of all the owners who respond to the survey scored less than 70%. This shows that many entrepreneurs struggle with understanding at least some aspects of their businesses financials.

In order to help business owners improve this skill, Edmonton CPA recommends that entrepreneurs learn to read their financial statements in order to make informed financial decisions in their business. Understanding that the financial statements is referring to a group of reports including the income statement, statement of retained earnings and balance sheet is important. The first place to start is understanding the balance sheet. However, once an entrepreneur understands this, the next thing that they should learn about is the income statement.

The income statement going to show entrepreneurs how profitable the business that has been through a specific timeframe. The information on the statement will show an entrepreneur how much revenue is generated and then the expenses that were incurred. The result will show a net income or net loss in the business. Edmonton CPA says that entrepreneurs often make the mistake of thinking that they can look at the income statement alone in order to make financial decisions. However it should be noted that even though the income statement shows the profitability of certain timeframe, that does not necessarily indicate how profitable the business on a whole is.

Finally, Edmonton CPA says the last report in a financial statement is the statement of retained earnings. But this is is accumulative balance of the income or profits that have been left in the corporation. If an entrepreneur has paid themselves or any other shareholder dividends out of retained earnings, this will be subtracted off of the earnings that are left. Not only this, but it will be a report that is running over the entire time of the corporation. If an entrepreneur is planning on taking dividends, this is a report that they should be looking at.

The last thing that entrepreneurs should know about all of the various reports the financial statement, is that they all should be just a single page. Edmonton CPA says the reason why, is so that they can be easily read, easily understood, and that can help entrepreneurs use the information to make financial decisions. When an entrepreneur opens their business, understanding the financial statements is important. The sooner they will be able to understand and use these reports to guide their financial decisions the better. This can help entrepreneurs not only avoid making mistakes, but help them gain an understanding about how to use the information to grow their business as well.