Basic Financial Statements Under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

Assets are to be recorded and valued based of the type of asset there are.

The accounting equation: Assets = Liabilities + Owner’s Equity. Assets are the resources of the company. Examples include cash, land, buildings, and equipment. Liabilities are “outsider claims”, the company’s obligations to creditors. Examples include accounts payable, notes payable, and income taxes payable. Owner’s Equity represents “insider claims” of the company or the owner’s share of the assets. If a business is keeping accurate records this equation should always be in balance.

A financial statements are documents prepared communicating with a business financial activities. Financial statements are a key component of accounting. Financial statements are presented in a structured manner with conventions accepted by accounting and regulatory personnel. There are four different financial statements which includes the balance statement, income statement, retained statement, and the statement of cash flow.

“Assets are economic resources that have expected future benefits to the business” (Baker, 2014). There are short and long term assets. Short-term assets are assets that will be utilized within a year. Examples of short-term assets are cash, inventory, and accounts receivable. Long-term assets are assets that will continue to beneficial longer than a year. Examples of long-term assets are buildings, land, and equipment.

The four different types of assets are Current Assets, Long-Term Assets, PPE (Property, Plant & Equipment), and Intangible Assets. Team B’s task was to define current assets. A current asset is an asset which can either be converted to cash or used to pay current liabilities within one year. Typical current assets include

Assets and liabilities are bifurcated in current and non-current. Current asset is defined as any asset which can be converted into cash readily and will be used within one accounting period normally 1 year e.g. Receivables, Inventory, Prepaid Expenses.

Items of value to a company such as equipment or supplies needed for running an efficient business are called an asset. A liability is when a company owes for a service or pay for employees. After a liability is subtracted from an asset this becomes the owners interest in the company or owners’ equity. Regardless of the standards followed by accountants, they will always classify accounts into these three categories resulting in the Accounting Equation: (Editorial Board, 2012, p. 9- 10)

An obligation that legally binds an individual or company to settle a debt. When one is liable for a debt, they are responsible for paying the debt or settling a wrongful act they may have committed. For example, if John hits Jane 's car, John is liable for the damages to Jane 's vehicle because John is responsible for the damages. In the case of a company, a liability is recorded on the balance sheet and can include accounts payable, taxes, wages, accrued expenses, and deferred revenues. Current liabilities are debts payable within one year, while long-term liabilities are debts payable over a longer period.

The balance sheet shows the firm’s financial position with respect to assets and liabilities at a specific point in time. An example of a balance sheet is presented in Table….. The balance sheet provides three types of information: assets, liabilities, and owners’ equity. Assets are what the company owns, and they include current assets those that can be converted

These liabilities are described as what the business or organization owes such as accounts payable, payroll taxes due, notes payable, and mortgages payable are all liabilities. Assets are economic resources that have expected future benefits to the business (Baker & Baker, 2000). It is described as what the business or organization owns or controls. This can include cash, accounts receivable, notes receivable, and inventory.

The company has capital, which are loans and shares. The liabilities are finances and debt. These two together equal the assets. Some items include, cash, inventory, machines, computers, even desks and chairs. Everything the company has, assets, belongs to somebody else, liabilities, or to the company 's owners, capital (Sink, Pg. 2).

Any monetary item liquidated or exchanged for cash is known as an asset. Assets are equal to the total amount of debts, common shares, preferred shares, and undistributed earnings of a business. The three vital traits of assets are:

A current liability is defined as a liability that must be paid within one accounting period.

Each user of the financial statements interprets the information in a different manor. They use the information to determine their interactions with the organization. Management, investors, and employees use the same information from the financial statements but for different purposes. These four basic statements are the fundamentals of accounting which can be much more detail and complex. They do not need to be more complex for the users of the information; these basic statements have all the information needed to make

For a business enterprise, all the relevant financial information, presented in a structured manner and in a form easy to understand, are called the financial statements. They typically include four basic financial statements, accompanied by a management discussion and analysis: