If you’ve ever looked at a balance sheet and immediately wanted to slam your laptop shut, you’re not alone. Most business owners don’t come from accounting backgrounds, and the sheer volume of numbers ...

Joseph Nguyen is a contributing author at Investopedia and a research analyst with experience at a securities brokerage firm. Charlene Rhinehart is a CPA , CFE, chair of an Illinois CPA Society ...

Many financial systems do a fine job of generating standard reports, but accountants often need more. In those cases, accountants can create custom solutions in Excel, but that approach has drawbacks.

Some business owners are tempted to leave their balance sheets to their accountants, but it is important for leadership to understand how to read their balance sheets in order to keep an eye on their ...

Julia is a writer in New York and started covering tech and business during the pandemic. She also covers books and the publishing industry. With over a decade of editorial experience, Rob Watts ...

All corporations, including those that are not publicly traded, can issue stock to investors. A stockholder is generally assigned a percentage of ownership in the company, based on the amount of stock ...

When you want to know a company’s financial health, it helps to look at its balance sheet. But if you’ve never seen a balance sheet before or don’t know how to read one, all you’ll see is a collection ...

Daniel Liberto is a journalist with over 10 years of experience working with publications such as the Financial Times, The Independent, and Investors Chronicle. Somer G. Anderson is CPA, doctor of ...

Retained earnings are a company's cumulative earnings since it began the business, minus any shareholder dividends that were issued. This figure represents stockholder equity that can be used for ...

A balance sheet is a financial statement that provides a broad overview of a given firm's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity. This important document gives management and other interested ...

If you're interested in investing, you've probably read quite a few articles that say "do your homework" before buying a stock. Reading and understanding a balance sheet is part of that homework.

A strong balance sheet can make all the difference between your investment surviving a market downturn and blowing up in your face. Nearly every financial crisis can be traced back to a foundation of ...