One of the important roles of any member of the financial team. Including the controller, may be involvement in the preparation of the company’s financial statements. Even if that responsibility falls within the office of the CFO, the controller and other finance personnel must understand how their transitions recorded impact the financial statements. Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity.
Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to understand. They typically include four basic financial statements accompanied by a management discussion and analysis:
- A balance sheet or statement of financial position, reports on a company's assets, liabilities and owners’ equity at a given point in time.
- An income statement may have varying names including: profit and loss report (P&L report), statement of comprehensive income, or statement of revenue & expenses. These report on a company's income, expenses, and profits over a stated period. A profit and loss statement provides information on the operation of the enterprise. These include sales and the various expenses incurred during the stated period.
- A statement of changes in equity or “statement of equity” also called “statement of retained earnings” reports on the changes in equity of the company over a stated period.
- A cash flow statement reports on a company's cash flow, particularly its operating, investing and financing activities over a stated period.
A balance sheet represents a single point in time, where the income statement, the statement of changes in equity, and the cash flow statement each represent activities over a stated period.
For large corporations, these statements may be complex and may include an extensive set of footnotes to the financial statements, management discussion and analysis and supplementary information. The notes typically describe each item on the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement in further detail. Notes to financial statements are considered an integral part of the financial statements.
Below courses are currently available on the site:
- The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Elevating the Role
- The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Strategic and Annual Planning
- The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Cash and Investments
- The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Inventory Process Part 1
- The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Inventory Process Part 2
- The Controllership Series: Financial Statement Preparation and Presentation
Learning Objectives
- Discover and understand the purpose of the Financial Statement.
- Explore how to prepare a Balance Sheet, Income Statement, statement of Stockholder Equity, and Statement of Cash Flow.
- Discover and understand basic analytic ratios for the Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Statement of Cash Flow.
- Recognize and understand the components of notes to the Financial Statement.
- Identify the need for and uses of supplemental information to the Financial Statement.
Included In Certifications
This course is included in the following Certification Programs:
22 CoursesThe Controllership Series Certification
- The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Elevating the Role
- The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Strategic and Annual Planning
- The Controllership Series: The Controllers Role in Financial Forecasting
- The Controllership Series: Future Role of the Controller – Part 1
- The Controllership Series: Future Role of the Controller – Part 2
- The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Cash and Investments
- ASC 842 Accounting for Leases - Deep Dive
- The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Inventory Part 1
- The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Inventory Part 2 - Inventory Valuation, Physical Inventory Methods and Inventory fraud
- The Controllership Series: Overhead, Direct and Indirect Costs and Allocation Methods
- The Controllership Series: Financial Statement Preparation and Presentation
- The Controllership Series: The Controllers Role in the Procurement Function
- The Controllership Series: The Role of The Controller in ESG
- The Controllership Series: The Controllers Role in Pro Forma Financials
- The Controllership Series: The Controllers Role in Data Analytics and Big Data
- The Controllership Series: Introduction to the Financial Close Process
- The Controllership Series: Managerial Accounting Basics and Cost Principles
- The Controllership Series: Sales, Collections and Customer Credit
- The Controllership Series: Addressing Cash Flow and Forecasting Uncertainty
- The Controllership Series: The Controller’s Skillset
- The Controllership Series: The Controllers Role in Internal Controls
- Tools for The Controllership Series Certificate
188 Reviews (969 ratings)
Prerequisites
No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course. It is recommended to take Other Segments of The Controllership Series courses by Lynn Fountain.
1. The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Elevating the Role
2. The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Strategic and Annual Planning
3. The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Cash and Investments
4. The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Inventory Part 1
5. The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Inventory Part 2
6. The Controllership Series: Financial Statement Preparation and Presentation