Accounting 101

Since most of our hands were partially raised when Tim Zak asked the class how familiar we were with financial statements, I am using this blog entry as a space to provide further information on income statements, balance sheets, and statements of cash flows. The below articles have been increasingly useful for me as the deadline for our business plans approaches. 

This article by the U.S. Small Business Administration describes, in great detail, the meaning of each section on the balance and income statement, and what your business should include within each section:

http://www.sba.gov/ombudsman/7046

The U.S. Small Business Administration also provides advice on how to design a cash flow analysis: http://www.sba.gov/content/develop-cash-flow-analysis-your-business

This article by eSmallOffice offers ways to develop long and short term goals, as well as, assumptions to develop a financial forecast for your business: http://www.esmalloffice.com/SBR_template.cfm?DocNumber=PL10_0100.htm&location=all

These articles include easy to understand equations for creating financial metrics that should be included on the financial sheets, or used to evaluate your ROI:

 http://www.esmalloffice.com/SBR_template.cfm?DocNumber=PL10_0070.htm&location=all

http://www.esmalloffice.com/SBR_template.cfm?DocNumber=PL10_0080.htm&location=all

http://www.esmalloffice.com/SBR_template.cfm?DocNumber=PL10_0090.htm&location=all