Understanding Balance Sheets

As statements of a company's financial condition, balance sheetscontain information vital to owners, investors, and financialmanagers who are charged with assessing company performance. Oftencomplex and difficult to interpret, balance sheets are nonethelessessential because they help pinpoint business problem areas.Understanding Balance Sheets explains in a clear and concise mannerall the major aspects of this important business tool, making ityours to implement easily and successfully. Written by two financial and accounting authorities, this hands-onworking reference enables you to understand a company's balancesheet within the context of its annual report. You'll find detailedinformation on: * Exactly what a balance sheet is, how it works, and how it's usedto increase profitability * The individual components: receivables, cash, inventory, long-lived assets, current payables, long-term debt, and equity * How these different elements relate to each other, how they comeinto being, a