Preview

Basics of Accounting

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
655 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Basics of Accounting
To what extent do you think that the strength of Invicta plcs balance sheets in 2010 and 2011 outweigh their weaknesses?
Along with the statement of cash flows and income statement, the balance sheet is one of the three most important documents used by investors to understand the financial condition of a company. Structurally, the balance sheet is relatively simple in concept. Every company's balance sheet is comprised of three elements:
Assets: often defined as an economic resource which is owned by the corporation and is expected to provide future benefits to its operation. Accounting rules allow assets to take two forms: Tangible Assets, which have a physical form such as a building or a piece of machinery. Intangible Assets, which usually involve a legal right or claim such as a patent.
Liabilities: these are the debts of a corporation. Nearly all businesses have liabilities; even the most successful and profitable of companies will make purchases on credit. Most companies also find it desirable to borrow money as a means of expanding operations more rapidly. Typical liabilities of the company include long-term debt, notes payable, and accounts payable.
Equity: also referred to as owner's equity and shareholder's equity, these are the resources that have been invested by the owners of the company. Increases in owner's equity comes from two sources: the initial and any additional investments by the owner, as well as earnings resulting from the profitable operation of the company
The relationship of the above three elements in the balance sheet are as follows:
Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity
Generally, the importance of the balance sheet stems from its ability to allow investors to analyze the amount of debt a company is carrying relative to the investments it owns and the equity, or worth, of the company.
The balance sheet for this company is rather useless as their corporate aim was rapid growth. As a fashion retailer and their

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    14). The Balance sheet gives the exact money value worth of the assets over the liabilities of the company as of the specified time mentioned. The Balance sheet formula is “Assets = Liabilities + Stockholders’ Equity” (Kimmel et al., 2009, p. 14). The various resources possessed by a business such as property, cash, and equipment are Assets. Liabilities include the company’s payables to creditors and owners; the owner capital is also-called as Owner’s equity. A public company publicizes its Balance sheet to the general public. The creditors and investors use this statement to decide if they will invest in or lend to this company. The investors will see the likelihood of their money being repaid by the…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Next, the purpose of the balance sheet is to report the financial integrity of a company. The amount of assets, liabilities, and stockholders equity are thoroughly expressed on the balance sheet. Assets are economic resources that the company has at its digression. Liabilities and stockholders’ equity are streams of financing or financial claims against the…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Week 4 the Lemonade Stand

    • 2664 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The Balance Sheet is another type of financial statement used by a company to see a snapshot of the company's financial position at a particular point in time. It lists the value of the company's assets followed by its liabilities. A balance sheet can be summed up by a simple equation:…

    • 2664 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    xacc week 1

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1. Balance sheet - The balance sheet reveals everything of value that the corporation owns. This includes all Assets, Liabilities, and the Net Worth. The balance sheet can be useful to an internal user such as management and employees by showing where improvement need to be made within the company. Creditors and investor will use the balance sheet to determine if money can be loaned to or invested in the company.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    B120 Tma03

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A balance sheet is a summary of the value of all assets, liabilities and Ownership equity for an organisation on a specific date.…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    * A balance sheet is summary of a company's financial condition at a specific point in time, including assets, liabilities and net worth. It allows the company to know what they have been paying for or what they owe out to people. An income statement is a report that tracks a company’s revenues, gross profits, operating income, and net worth. All businesses need to have revenue in order to establish a good foundation to have their business up and running. A retained earnings statement is the portion of net income not paid out to investors in the business as dividends. If the company earns a profit they have to decide whether or not to invest it or keep it as theirs and distribute it evenly throughout the others in the company. Statement of cash flows provides information about an entity's cash receipts and cash payments during a period. Cash flow statements classify cash receipts and payments according to whether they stem from operating, investing, or financing activities. Assets are any item or items of economic value owned by an individual or corporation, especially that which could be converted to cash. A liability is an obligation that legally binds an individual or company to settle a debt. Comparative statements are financial statements for different periods that allow the comparison of figures to illustrate trends in a company’s performance. Stockholder’s equity is the part of the balance sheet that represents the capital received from investors in exchange for stock donated capital and retained…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A balance sheet is used to report the company’s assets, asset claims, and liabilities at a specific point in time. The basic accounting equation is what makes up the balance sheet. Assets are added together to come up with a total cost. Liabilities and stockholder’s equity is also added together. The two sums are then added together to figure out if the business relies on the owners and operators, or if it relies more on the investors. Shown below is an example of a company whose assets outweigh their liabilities.…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    B120 Finance Question

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages

    a) The purpose of a balance sheet is to show the financial position of a business; each accounting period has 2 balance sheets and 5 basic accounting elements these are- incomes, expenses, liabilities, assets and…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The balance sheet is a snapshot which examines the business. This statement records assets, liabilities and the equity of a company at a particular point in time. The equation used for the balance sheet is assets = liabilities + shareholders\equity. Assets are those things that the company actually owns or controls. The liabilities are represented by the debt or financing that was taken out to acquire those assets. Equity is that money that has been provided by people or stockholders to keep the business afloat.…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Accounting 290

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A balance sheet is the snap shot of a company’s financial condition. The balance sheet is the only financial statement that applies to a single point in time of a business calendar year. Apple has the correct order for listing their assets on their balance sheet. They have their cash and equivalents, short term investments, cash and short term investments, accounts and noted receivables, inventories and…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    accounting questions

    • 5042 Words
    • 21 Pages

    3) The balance sheet is a financial snap shot of a company at a particular point in time. The balance sheet lists the assets, liabilities, and equity of the company. Reflect on your personal financial situation, can you apply the concepts of the balance sheet? What did you learn from this reflection?…

    • 5042 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Companies need to account for their daily activities, which can include the office supplies being used daily by its employees such as copy paper, toner, etc., as well as supplies that do not deplete, however are being used daily, such as copiers, fax machines, etc. The most common items are categorized on a balance sheet which will represent the value of all assets that are expected to be converted into cash within one year in the normal course of business (TD Bank.com, 2014). A balance sheet is where a creditor or investor will look to see how your company is progressing financially. The balance sheet is a written report of the company 's assets and liabilities. It specifically shows the current and noncurrent assets of the company.…

    • 892 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the financial accounting sense of the term, it is not necessary to be able to legally enforce the asset's benefit for qualifying a resource as being an asset, provided the entity can control its use by other means.…

    • 2943 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The balance sheet shows the value of the assets, liabilities, and owners ' equity of the company at a specific point in time. The assets are the firm 's resources, financial or nonfinancial, such as cash, inventories, properties, and equipment. The total assets equal the sources of funding for those resources: liabilities and equity. Below is an example of a Balance Sheet;…

    • 1766 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Accounting Equation

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages

    . This isthe basis of the Balance Sheet.Assets are the company’s furniture, fixtures and equipment, physical property, intellectual property and other resources. These properties include the physical land as well as the equipmentand building improvements on the property.A company’s liabilities are all of the obligations that the company has incurred. Thecompany has to service these liabilities by making payments on them. These payments may takethe form of cash income or may be sourced from loaned monies. If they borrow money, this is anadditional liability. Liability is “money owed; debts or pecuniary obligations” (Dictionary.com,2009). Liabilities offset assets in the equation that is the Balance Sheet.Owner’s Equity, also known as owner’s/shareholder’s equity, is the final variable in theequation. When liabilities are subtracted from assets, the remaining balance is the owner’s equity.The term owner’s equity is used for privately owned companies. If the business is an incorporatedentity which issued common stock in exchange for a percentage of company ownership, then theowner’s equity is termed owner’s/shareholder’s equity. Cash, stocks and retained earnings are allowner’s/shareholder’s equity.…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays