Finance

A company’s balance sheet, also known as a “statement of financial position,” reveals the firm’s assets, liabilities and owners’ equity (net worth). The balance sheet, together with the income statement and cash flow statement, make up the cornerstone of any company’s financial statements. If you are a shareholder of a company or a potential investor, it…

Investing is a way to set aside money while you are busy with life and have that money work for you so that you can fully reap the rewards of your labor in the future. Investing is a means to a happier ending. Legendary investor Warren Buffett defines investing as “…the process of laying out…

It’s the dawning of a new year and you finally have some money to invest. Perhaps you just got a raise. Or, maybe an end-of-year bonus is burning a hole in your pocket. Either way, you need to be smart about investing if you want those extra dollars to count.Shutterstock The problem is, you have…

ByFull BioSusan Ward wrote about small businesses for The Balance Small Business for 18 years. She has run an IT consulting firm and designed and presented courses on how to promote small businesses.Susan WardUpdated November 17, 2019A balance sheet is a statement of the financial position of a business that lists the assets, liabilities, and…

To enjoy a comfortable future, investing is absolutely essential for most people.Why invest? Investing can provide you with another source of income, help fund your retirement or even get you out of a financial jam in the future. Above all, investing helps you grow your wealth — allowing your financial goals to be met and…

Accounting is the process of recording financial transactions pertaining to a business. The accounting process includes summarizing, analyzing, and reporting these transactions to oversight agencies, regulators, and tax collection entities. The financial statements used in accounting are a concise summary of financial transactions over an accounting period, summarizing a company’s operations, financial position, and cash…

An investment always concerns the outlay of some asset today (time, money, effort, etc.) in hopes of a greater payoff in the future than what was originally put in. What’s an Investment?Investing is putting money to work to start or expand a project – or to purchase an asset or interest – where those funds…

According to a published report, contribution of  MSME sector towards the growth of the Indian economy is quite significant. The Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises:Have a vast network of over 32 million unitsCreate employment of about 70 millionManufacture more than 6000 productsContribute about 45% to manufacturing output and about 40% of exports, directly and indirectly.Despite…

The BasicsIf you can read a nutrition label or a baseball box score, you can learn to read basic financial statements. If you can follow a recipe or apply for a loan, you can learn basic accounting. The basics aren’t difficult and they aren’t rocket science.This brochure is designed to help you gain a basic…

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own.Investing money in the stock market is the number one way…

In college, I started a local consignment business. It was very different from my freelance writing business for a few key reasons: I had employees, I had physical products (which meant a physical store and check-out process), and I had a different legal business entity.I had some experience under my belt from running my freelance…

DefinitionFinancial 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.Four Types of Financial StatementsThe four main types of financial statements are:1. Statement of…

Personal finance is the process of planning and managing personal financial activities such as incomeAnnual IncomeAnnual income is the total value of income earned during a fiscal year. Gross annual income refers to all earnings before any deductions are made, and net annual income refers to the amount that remains after all deductions are made.…

There is a vast array of accounting softwares and financial management solutions, sometimes called bookkeeping software, on the market today, with specialized functionality for almost any industry or size of organization. Moreover, the specific type of accounting can differ between programs—project, fund and fixed asset are examples.Add to this variety the constant change of standards,…

photofriday / Getty Images A strong company can attribute some of its success to its accounting. Without accounting, it would be hard to keep track of your business’s finances and profitability, and you might not know exactly how much money is coming in or going out.Accounting is how finances are tracked. As an individual, you…

A stock exchange does not own shares. Instead, it acts as a market where stock buyers connect with stock sellers. Stocks can be traded on one or more of several exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the Nasdaq. Although you will most likely trade stocks through a broker, it is important to…