Balance Sheet

Balance sheet is a snapshot of a company's financial condition at a specific moment in time, usually at the close of an accounting period. The balance sheet is the core of the financial statements (the other major financial statements are the income statement (statement of comprehensive income), statement of changes in equity and statement of cash flows). Unlike the other financial statements, balance sheet is accurate only at one moment in time, not a period of time.

The balance sheet comprises assets (e.g. cash, inventory, etc.), liabilities (e.g. debt, accounts payable, etc.) and equity (e.g. share capital, retained earnings, reserves, etc.).

The balance sheet is also referred to as the statement of financial position (new IFRS name of the statement). For more information about structure and composition of the balance sheet see "Statement of financial position".