Financial Statements: Financial statements are the end products of accounting process, which reveal the financial results of a specified period and financial position as on a particular date. Financial Statements are prepared and published by corporate undertakings for the benefit of various stakeholders. These statements include Statement of profit and loss and balance sheet.
The basic objective of these statements is to provide information required for decision-making by the management as well as other outsiders who are interested in the affairs of the undertaking.
Balance Sheet: The balance sheet shows all the assets owned by the concern, all the obligations or liabilities payable to outsiders or creditors and claims of the owners on a particular date. It is one of the important statements depicting the financial position or status or strength of an undertaking.
Statement of Profit and Loss: The Statement of profit and loss is prepared for a specific period to determine the operational results of an undertaking. It is a statement of revenue earned and the expenses incurred for earning the revenue. It is a performance report showing the changes in income, expenses, profits and losses as a result of business operations during the year between two balance sheet dates.
Significance of Financial Statements: The users of financial statements include Shareholders, Investors, Creditors, Lenders, Customers, Management, Government, etc. Financial statements help all the users in their decision-making process. They provide data about general purpose needs of these members.
Limitations of Financial Statements: Financial statements are not free from limitations. They provide only aggregate information to satisfy the general purpose needs of the users. They are technical statements understood by only persons having some accounting knowledge. They reflect historical information but not current situation, which is essential in any decision making. In addition, one can get idea about the organisation’s performance in terms of quantitative changes but not in qualitative terms like labour relations, quality of work, employees satisfaction, etc.
The financial statements are neither complete nor accurate as the flow of income and expenses are segregated using best judgement apart from accepted concepts. Hence, these statements need proper analysis before their use in decision-making.