Course Outline
Join PRO

What are the required financial statements?

Author:
Harold Averkamp, CPA, MBA

The required financial statements for U.S. business corporations are:

  1. Statement of income. This financial statement is also known as the statement of operations, statement of earnings, or income statement. It reports the corporation’s revenues, expenses, gains and losses (except for items stipulated as other comprehensive income) for a period of time such as a year, quarter, 13 months, etc.
  2. Statement of comprehensive income. This financial statement begins with the bottom line of the income statement and then lists the items considered to be other comprehensive income. Some of these items involve currency translation, hedging, and pensions.
  3. Balance sheet. This statement of financial position reports a corporation’s assets, liabilities and stockholders’ equity as of the final instant of the date shown in its heading (December 31, January 31, June 30, etc.)
  4. Statement of cash flows. This statement reports the major causes for the change in cash and cash equivalents during the accounting period. The cash flows are presented as operating, investing, or financing activities.
  5. Statement of stockholders’ equity. This financial statement is often presented as the statement of shareholders’ equity, statement of equity, statement of changes in stockholders’ equity, etc. It reports all of the changes in stockholders’ equity which occurred during the accounting period.

The five annual financial statements must be accompanied with notes to the financial statements. These notes are needed in order to disclose additional information about items that are reported or are not reported in the financial statements.

You can see examples of the required financial statements (and the required notes) for a publicly traded U.S. corporation by searching the Internet for the corporation’s name plus the words investor relations. Select Annual Reports (or select SEC filings and annual reports or 10-K).

Join PRO to Track Progress

Features

Free

PRO

Lifetime Access (One-Time Fee)
Explanations
Quizzes
Q&A
Dictionary
Bookkeeping Video Training
Financial Statements Video Training
Visual Tutorials
Quick Tests
Quick Tests with Coaching
Cheat Sheets
Flashcards
Crossword Puzzles
Word Scrambles with Coaching
Bookkeeping Study Guide
Managerial and Cost Accounting Study Guide
Certificates of Achievement
Bookkeeping Certificate of Excellence
Business Forms
Printable PDF Files
Progress Tracking
Motivational Badges and Points
Motivational Medal Rankings
Motivational Activity Streaks
Public Profile Page of Achievements

About the Author

Harold Averkamp

For the past 52 years, Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) has
worked as an accounting supervisor, manager, consultant, university instructor, and innovator in teaching accounting online. He is the sole author of all the materials on AccountingCoach.com.

Learn More About Harold

Read 3,033 Testimonials

PRO for Teams
  • Easily onboard new users and team admins
  • Monitor individual user progress and grades
  • Monitor team progress and compare users
  • View average grades and find problem areas
  • Monitor recent activity and user achievements
PRO for Teams
Take the Tour Join Pro Upgrade to Pro