Review article
https://doi.org/10.38190/ope.10.1.4
Analysis of the financial statements in the function of making quality business decisions
Željko Tintor
orcid.org/0000-0002-5405-4843
; Retra d.o.o. for Audit and Business Consulting in Zagreb
Abstract
Adequate information background for interested users is required for business planning and running. Informing users means presenting them with relevant and reliable information in a recognizable form and content, understandable to the intended users. Most of this information comes from accounting. The final product of the accounting process is a set of statements called financial statements. They report on the state of the company and business performance and warn of potential problems. The financial statements drawn up by the entities defined in the Accounting Act are balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, statement of changes in equity and notes to the financial statements. Financial reporting must provide: reliable information for management decision-making, usable information for current and potential investors and lenders to make investment and loan decisions, information about entrepreneur’s resources and their sources, transactions that affect changes in resources and sources, business performance information over a period of time, as well as information to experts who want to study the state and business of the past in connection with planning, etc. In addition to owners and management, the information about the status and operations of the company may be of interest to other groups, such as business partners, investors, banks, government institutions, etc. With respect to the reasons and motives for observation, each of these groups is focused on certain aspects of financial information. For those with accounting knowledge, a set of financial statements is understandable, and if audited by independent auditors, it is also a reliable source of information for their needs. However, many people are not accounting professionals, and they require proper interpretation of the financial statements. Interpretation involves the analysis of financial statements using a complex financial analysis instrument. Analytical techniques that are used as means of analysis are value and percentage changes, the trend in percentages, components in percentages, and indicators and indicator systems. The paper analyses the financial statements of the selected company using relevant analytical methods and techniques. The aim of this paper is to show how, using analytical methods and techniques, the information presented in the financial statements can be interpreted for the needs of owners and management, creditors and other users.
Keywords
financial statements; financial information; analysis of financial statements; analytical methods and techniques; interpretation of financial statements
Hrčak ID:
239703
URI
Publication date:
24.6.2020.
Visits: 14.044 *