1.1 Describe the different users of financial statement and their needs.
Financial Statements represent a formal record of the financial activities of an entity. These are written reports that quantify the financial strength, performance and liquidity of a company. Financial Statements reflect the financial effects of business transactions and events on the entity.
Types of Financial Statements
They are three (3) types of financial statements, this are;
1) Statement of Financial Position
Statement of Financial Position, also known as the Balance Sheet, presents the financial position of an entity at a given date. It is comprised of the following three elements:
Assets: Something a business owns or controls (e.g. cash, inventory, plant and machinery, etc.)
Liabilities: Something a business owes to someone (e.g. creditors, bank loans, etc.)
Equity: What the business owes to its owners. This represents the amount of capital that remains in the business after its assets are used to pay off its outstanding liabilities. Equity therefore represents the difference between the assets and liabilities.
2) Income Statement
Income Statement, also known as the Profit and Loss Statement, reports the company's financial performance in terms of net profit or loss over a specified period. Income Statement is composed of the following two elements:
Income: What the business has earned over a period (e.g. sales revenue, dividend income, etc.)
Expense: The cost incurred by the business over a period (e.g. salaries and wages, depreciation, rental charges, etc.)
Net profit or loss is arrived by deducting expenses from income.
3) Cash Flow Statement
Cash Flow Statement, presents the movement in cash and bank balances over a period. The movement in cash flows is classified into the following segments:
Operating Activities: Represents the cash flow from primary