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Download balance sheet template in Microsoft Excel format.
Easily Summarize Your Financial Position with a Balance Sheet Template
Have you been searching the Internet for a balance sheet template that can help summarize your company’s financial position? Do you know all of the individual elements this document should contain? The balance sheet is an important document for any company to possess, but especially important when trying to sell stock shares or attract investors. In this article we will provide a brief definition of the balance sheet, followed by a section that will outline the important elements a quality balance sheet template should reflect.
What Is a Balance Sheet?
The balance sheet is a crucial document in financial accounting, and one that is absolutely required for public companies. In short, the balance sheet is a summary of a business’ or an organization’s financial position at a given point in time. And because these financial positions have a tendency to change over time (sometimes rapidly), the balance sheet is an ever-evolving document that is typically required at least quarterly when working with shareholders or investors who are not directly involved in the day-to-day operations.
The balance sheet is one of four financial statements that accountants and financial analysts work with, statements that are collectively referred to as accounts. This particular account details a company’s assets, liabilities and equity, usually expressed in the following manner:
Assets=Liabilities + Equity
This formula helps potential investors read and understand the company’s financial position quickly, and allows them to make informed investment decisions based on that position.
Balance Sheet Template: What Elements Should Be Included?
As mentioned briefly above, a balance sheet details a company’s assets, liabilities and equity, which means the balance sheet template should contain fields for all three of these categories, however, there are also several sub-categories under assets, liabilities and equities that the balance sheet template will also need to address. Some of these subcategories include:
Assets
- Cash—cash in the bank that belongs to the company
- Petty Cash—office cash used for everyday purchases
- Temporary Investments—investments that expect a return
- Inventory Supplies—this is basically the total of all non-equipment supplies
- Accounts Receivable—accounts where the business is owed money.
- Prepaid Insurance—insurance only becomes an asset once it is paid for upfront.
- Land—if the company owns the land where the business is conducted, this is considered an asset.
- Real estate or property—the building(s) owned by the company
- Equipment—this includes any major equipment related to the business such as computers, copiers, vehicles, etc.
Liabilities
- Notes Payable—this include any type of business loan
- Accounts Payable—open accounts that the company owes on
- Wages Payable—the amount currently due to employees at this point in time
- Taxes and interest payable—estimate of taxes owed and interest owed on any loans
- Bonds Payable
- Unearned revenue
Equity
- Common stock held—the amount, reflected in dollars, the owner of the company has
- Retained earnings—this is any earnings that have already been collected
Naturally, the format of the balance sheet template will vary depending on the type of company, but generally speaking it should at least contain the above-mentioned elements for purposes of clarity and full disclosure.