Financial Statement Preparation, Reporting and Auditing Certification
Financial statements provide various
important financial information that helps investors, creditors and
analysts evaluate a company’s financial performance. A lot of the
financial information in financial reports is required by law or by
accounting standard practices. Financial reporting helps management
communicate the past successes and future expectations of the business.
In addition, financial reporting is significant to your business for a
variety of reasons including:
- Tax position
- Reporting financial operating performance
- Evaluating cash flow
- Management decision making, forecasting and planning
Financial reporting includes:
- External financial statements (income statement, statement of
comprehensive income, balance sheet, statement of cash flows, and
statement of stockholders’ equity) - Notes to the financial statements
- Quarterly and annual reports to stockholders or stakeholders
- Financial reports to governmental agencies including quarterly and
annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - Documentation pertaining to the issuance of common stock and other securities
Financial reporting uses financial statements to disclose data. The
information is vital for management to make decisions about the
company’s future and provides information to capital providers like
creditors and investors about the profitability and financial stability
of the company.
This certification was developed to provide the user with a holistic
overview of the financial statement preparation, reporting and auditing
process. It includes concepts required for development of accurate
financial statements (GAAP Principles) to elements embedded In each of
the major financial reports. We also cover requirements of XBRL and
Management Discussion and Analysis. In addition, we take a look at
Generally Accepted Auditing Standards to give the participant an
understanding of the requirement of the external auditor. This is
useful regardless of your entity type. Understanding the principles
required in an external review can be essential to ensuring your
financial statements are in accordance with GAAP.
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