The Importance Of Financial Statements

By: Michael TetrickOct 15, 2020

The Significance Of Financial Statements? Why Is Financial Information Important? Doesn't a computer program handle it all these days? Answer: YES! they really are important, and NO! It takes real people to do most of it. Ask any business in any sector if it's vital to have access to Accurate Financial Information, you're likely to be answered with a resounding "YES". And while many innovators and entrepreneurs may joke about how boring Finance And Accounting is, the truth is they couldn't be successful without knowing the Importance Of Accuracy In Accounting and someone maintaining constant vigilance over the Role Of Financial Statements and the intricacies working with them require. And there are many different types of statements:

  • Income Statements
  • Accounts Receivables
  • Balance Sheets
  • Statement of Stockholders Equity
  • Cash Flow Statements
  • Statements of Comprehensive Income

These financial statements play a vital role in planning, decision making, gauging success or failure, and basically revealing to the world the current state of your business!

The Significance Of Financial Statements? Why Your Business Can't Thrive Without Them. And The Staff That Produces Them.

We know that Financial Statements are important, and we know all of the things they can paint a picture of. But Why? To understand that, let's take a look at what's important, and how a Financial Statement can be useful.

  • Transparency in Financial Statements - Why? Simple. Trust. Investors, financial institutions, government agencies, suppliers, and the public have to be able to trust that the public disclosures in a financial statement are accurate and complete. There are countless examples of corporations that were not fully candid about their finances and later came to grief, usually ending in disaster.
  • Evaluating Tax Liability - This usually is a crucial factor that investors and lenders go to first. The sales and profits might look good, in fact, everything else might look good, but if there are serious, even crippling tax liabilities lurking, then the health of the business is probably in grave jeopardy. A quality Accounting and Finance team will be able to tell you.
  • Mitigating Errors - One of the obvious ways to correct an error in forecasting, execution, or reporting profit or loss is to go to the balance sheet. And if caught early enough, a correction can be made and the damage limited. This is why it's usually wise to frequently issue financial statements, even internally only. It might mean the difference between a big mistake that will haunt you, and one that can be quickly corrected.
  • Trust Building - As mentioned earlier, trust is a key factor in a business's reputation. So important that failure to win and keep faith in your enterprise could mean the end of it. Want to see investors run for the exit? Simple. Give them a reason to distrust the public disclosures of a business.
  • Productive Payment Cycle - Financial Statements provide key insights into the productivity of a business. From a pure Profit and Loss statement, you might see that you're making money, but dig deeper to see if you're doing the best you can. Understanding the next level of the productive pay cycle can supply that information.
  • Improved and Accurate Decision Making - Obviously, the more information available, the more informed business decisions can be. This is where the layers of profit, loss, investment and cost are laid bare and can be examined. Knowing all of the factors that relate to all of a businesses' functions supplies more information. More information drives better choices, and hopefully success.

But knowing the benefits is not having the resources to support an entire professional Finance and Accounting team. A team that big corporations spend years and a lot of money building. So what do the rest of us do?

How Do I Onboard The Best Financial Team Available? Right Now?

By now you understand the importance of taking your financial statements to the next level, so you can make your business more attractive to customers and investors alike. But skills like this are expensive unless you skip the part about hiring an in-house staff to expand your financial reporting reach. And you do that by partnering with a top-notch Business Process Outsource firm.

The now tried and true method of doing this is to outsource all of that skill and experience! This allows you to enjoy all of the benefits of a top-notch financial and accounting team without the expenses associated with hiring one – advertising, interviewing, vetting, and providing benefits like health insurance, vacation pay, and profit-sharing. Outsourcing lets you scale the tasks and size of your team to fit your needs. And if those needs change, even temporarily, make temporary adjustments. No longer is outsourcing limited to the traditional roles of the past, it can provide skill and experience at significant cost savings, and it can do so quickly.

In fact the very best of the BPOs rival the finest of the in-house Finance and Accounting staff of some very prominent corporations.

So look around. See what these BPOs have to offer, and make sure you check things like:

  • Price
  • Training
  • Experience
  • Credentials and Licensing
  • Turnaround Time
  • Availability
  • Security
  • Up To Date Hardware and Software
  • Communication Skills
  • Responsiveness

And if you're looking for a good place to start, talk to the people at Rely Services, they own all of the qualities listed above, and they can be on your team tomorrow! Seriously!