The Balance Sheet

The basic Balance sheet equation is

Assets= Liabilities + Owners Equity

This forms the basis for an Accounting report called the Balance Sheet

Clearview Tv's Balance Sheet as at 1/1/20XX

Assets          Liabilities
Cash     1900   Accounts payable 400
Stock    3000   Loan             500  900
Plant     750
Vehicles 1250   Owner's Equity
                Capital         5000
                less Drawings    500
                plus Net Profit 1500  6000
         6900                         6900

      Asset = Liabilities + Owner's Equity
       6900  =    900      +    6000

As you can see the sum of all the Assets on the left is exactly 'balanced' by the sum of the Owner Equity and Liabilities on the right.

The Balance Sheet is just a detailed statement of the Balance Sheet Equation.

A Balance Sheet is a statement of the worth of a business at a particular point in time.

It is important to note that after every transaction the Balance Sheet stays in balance.

This is not an accident.

If one side of the Equation is increased the other side increases to compensate.

Every transaction that occurs has two sides and is processed to the accounts by the rules of Double Entry Bookkeeping.

(Incidentally 'Bookkeeping' is the only English word with 3 consecutive pairs of letters.)

Practice Exercises

You should attempt exercises 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5.

Exercise