What this screen is for
A balance sheet is a snapshot: what the business owns and what it owes as at one date, rather than what it earned over a period. You set that date and apply it, or use one of the quick filters. Assets on one side, liabilities and equity on the other, and the two should come to the same total. Where they do not, a banner at the top states the difference so it is not missed.
When to use it
Use it at a period end, when reporting to a lender or accountant, or whenever you need the financial position rather than the trading result. It reports on posted figures and changes nothing. Print it, preview it, download it as a PDF or take it as a CSV.
What you see on this screen
Five figures head the report:
- Total Assets — everything the business owns at the date
- Total Liabilities — everything it owes
- Total Equity — the owners' interest, being assets less liabilities
- Working Capital — current assets less current liabilities
- Current Ratio — current assets divided by current liabilities
The statement reads two ways. Grouped gives an expandable account tree in two blocks, ASSETS and LIABILITIES AND EQUITY, each ending in a TOTAL row. Detailed sets out the conventional classification: under ASSETS, Current Assets with its total and Non-Current Assets with its total, giving TOTAL ASSETS; under LIABILITIES AND EQUITY, Current Liabilities and Non-Current Liabilities giving Total Liabilities, then Owner's Equity giving Total Equity, and finally TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY. An Accounting Equation Validation panel closes the report, reading Balanced or naming the difference.
Filters and actions
As of Date sets the reporting date, and Apply Filter is what sends it — unlike the profit and loss screen, the date does not reload the report on its own here. Grouped and Detailed switch the layout, with Expand All and Collapse All on the grouped view. Print, Preview, PDF and Excel sit in the header.
Where the two sides do not agree, a banner reads Balance Sheet is NOT Balanced and gives the difference as assets less liabilities and equity.
Related
- Profit & Loss — trading performance over a period
- Trial Balance — every account balance at the same date
- Opening Balances — the day-one figures the position is built from