How non-financial personnel understand financial statements

There are three kinds of financial statements: balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement.

1, balance sheet: the main content depends on how much inventory reflects your inventory products; See how much accounts receivable reflect your creditor's rights; Look at monetary funds and reflect the balance of existing funds; See how much debt accounts payable reflect.

2. The main content of the income statement is that the main business income reflects the sales quality in a certain period; Look at the main business cost to reflect the cost level in a certain period; Problems existing in management viewed from management expenses.

3. Cash flow statement: mainly records the cash flow of enterprises in activities such as selling goods, providing labor services, purchasing goods, accepting labor services, paying taxes, etc. It also reflects the cash receipts and payments of its main business. The profit on the income statement can be changed by increasing or decreasing depreciation or temporarily not recording bad debts, but it is not so easy to modify the profit and working capital items at the same time. Before the company declared bankruptcy, it was not uncommon for the net profit to be positive for many years. However, the company's operating cash flow always began to deteriorate a few years before bankruptcy.

Before the company declared bankruptcy, it was not uncommon for the net profit to be positive for many years. However, the company's operating cash flow always began to deteriorate a few years before bankruptcy.

If we pay close attention to the company's operating cash flow, we can predict the company's risks. Therefore, if you want to analyze a company's financial situation and feel that time is tight, you can look at its operating cash flow first, because it can explain the problem better than any other financial data.

There are also financial statement indicators: earnings per share and return on net assets (depending on the company's profitability), debt ratio (depending on whether the company's operation is safe), and cash flow mentioned above (depending on the company's ability to continue to operate).

3. Cash flow statement: mainly records the cash flow of enterprises in activities such as selling goods, providing labor services, purchasing goods, accepting labor services, paying taxes, etc. It also reflects the cash receipts and payments of its main business. The profit on the income statement can be changed by increasing or decreasing depreciation or temporarily not recording bad debts, but it is not so easy to modify the profit and working capital items at the same time.

Before the company declared bankruptcy, it was not uncommon for the net profit to be positive for many years. However, the company's operating cash flow always began to deteriorate a few years before bankruptcy.