Learn how to analyze a company's balance sheet, including assets, liabilities, and equity, for smarter investment decisions.

A significant report for every business leader to review, at least annually, is the balance statement. It gives business leaders insight into the financial health of the company. To get a true picture ...

The three primary sections of a balance sheet are assets, liabilities and stockholders' equity. Liabilities and equity are the two sources of financing a business uses to fund its assets. Liabilities ...

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 ...

The balance sheet provides a look at a business at a snapshot in time, often at the end of a quarter or year. In some cases, the accounts on the balance sheet -- assets, liabilities, and equity -- can ...

Stockholders' equity is the value of assets a company has remaining after eliminating all its liabilities. Companies with positive trending shareholder equity tend to be in good fiscal health. Those ...

Financial statements are key to understanding the underlying drivers of a business—i.e., how your business is growing, what the margin profile is, how much cash it is generating and using and from ...

A liability is a financial obligation or debt owed. Liabilities are key elements on every company’s balance sheet, and therefore, important to stock and bond investors. Learn more. In finance and ...

Discover the key differences between debits vs credits in accounting — debits increase assets, while credits boost liabilities and equity. In accounting, debits increase assets and decrease ...

There are a multitude of financial ratios used by investors to measure the health of a company. Some measure cash flow and profitability, while others are used to determine the health of a company's ...

The expanded accounting equation builds upon the basic accounting equation's use of assets, liabilities and equity by incorporating additional components such as revenues, expenses and withdrawals.

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.