Читать книгу Entrepreneurial Finance - Robert D. Hisrich - Страница 34

The balance sheet allows venture owners to assess how healthy the business is in comparison with other past periods. It records what the company has in the form of assets, debt, and equity at the end of a month, fiscal quarter, or year. It is a “snapshot” of the firm's financial status at an instant in time. Table 3.1 provides an example of a balance sheet.

Assets are defined as the resources of the venture. Such assets were financed through liabilities or equity. Liabilities represent obligations the venture has to pay in the future, while equity defines the ownership interest of the venture. The relation between those three elements is the core of the balance sheet and is known as the accounting identity:

Table 3.1