A balance sheet represents the financial affairs of the company and is also referred to as “Assets and Liabilities” statement and is always as on a particular date and not for a period.
A profit and loss account represents the summary of financial transactions during a particular period and depicts the profit or loss for the period along with income tax paid on the profit and how the profit has been allocated (appropriated).
Net worth means total of share capital and reserves and surplus. This includes preference share capital unlike in Accounts preference share capital is treated as a debt. For the purpose of debt to equity ratio, the necessary adjustment has to be done by reducing preference share capital from net worth and adding it to the debt in the numerator.
Reserves and surplus represent the profit retained in business since inception of business. “Surplus” indicates the figure carried forward from the profit and loss appropriation account to the balance sheet, without allocating the same to any specific reserve. Hence, it is mostly called “unallocated surplus”. The company wants to keep a portion of profit in the free form so that it is available during the next year for appropriation without any problem. In the absence of this arrangement during the year of inadequate profits, the company may have to write back a part of the general reserves for which approval from the board and the general members would be required.
Secured loans represent loans taken from banks, financial institutions, debentures (either from public or through private placement), bonds etc. for which the company has mortgaged immovable fixed assets (land and building) and/or hypothecated movable fixed assets (at times even working capital assets with the explicit permission of the working capital banks)
Usually, debentures, bonds and loans for fixed assets are secured by fixed assets, while