Difference between Balance Sheet and Financial Statement

Balance Sheet and Financial Statements play a major role in the financial reporting of any business in the most significant and important manner. This reporting enlightens the stakeholders with all the necessary and important information about the company’s financial stage and its current performance. The concept of the Balance Sheet and Financial Statement is discussed below with some main differences.

What is Balance Sheet?

A Balance Sheet is a statement that actually offers an overview of a company’s financial position at a particular point in time. A balance sheet can be defined as a financial statement that includes the assets, liabilities, and equity of the company. Balance Sheet is used as a metric that helps to evaluate the previous and present progress of the company. Mostly this balance sheet is prepared at the end of the accounting period which is 31st of March. It shows the financial position of the business in a systematic and standard form. Along with financial statements such as income statements, and statements of cash flow, the balance sheet is an important document to prepare. A Balance Sheet helps to make rational decisions for the users of the statements.

What is Financial Statement?

Financial Statements are statements that serve as a means of communication between the organization and different users of financial statements regarding the financial position and profitability of the business at the end of a financial year. The financial statements of an organization also help them in different analyses, such as Credit Analysis, Debt Analysis, Security Analysis, and General Business Analysis. To ensure the reliability and accuracy of the financial statements, firms, accountants, government agencies, etc., audit the statements.

There are mainly 3 types of Financial Statements which are discussed below one by one:

Income Statement (P/L Statement): This Income Statement provides an overview of the company’s overall revenue generated, expenditures, and profit and loss over a certain time span. This also represents the company’s ability to actually generate revenue, manage the overall costs strategy, and also the profitability.

Balance Sheet: As we have discussed earlier balance sheet is the report of the financial position of the company at one point of time that contains information about company assets, liabilities, and the stakeholder’s equity distribution information.

Cash Flow Statement: The movement of cash & cash equivalents or inflow and outflow of cash is known as Cash Flow. Cash inflows are the transactions that result in an increase in cash & cash equivalents; whereas, cash outflows are the transactions that result in a reduction in cash & cash equivalents. Hence, a statement showing flows of cash & cash equivalent during a specified time period is known as a Cash Flow Statement. It also categorises the actual flow into different activities like operating, investing, & financing and provides insights into a company’s cash management and liquidity.

Difference between Balance Sheet and Financial Statement

Basis	Balance Sheet	Financial Statement
Definition	Balance Sheet is defined as a report that represents the company’s overall financial health at a specific time period.	Financial Statement is defined as the collection of various reports, like income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements that provide various financial information over a specific period.
Components Involved	Balance Sheet consists of assets, liabilities, and shareholder’s equity.	Financial Statement consists of the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
Frequency	Prepared at the end of an accounting time span, like a quarter or fiscal year.	Prepared for each accounting time like quarterly, annually, etc. Covers various time frames.
Objective	To provide a static snapshot of a company’s financial health and position.	To offer insights into a company’s financial performance and also help in the process of decision-making.
Use of Information	Creditors, Investors, and mainly shareholders use it to assess the company’s stability,	Company Management, Analysts, and Investors use this to evaluate the growth and performance perspectives.
Regulatory Compliance	This should comply with the proper accounting standards and regulations like Indian Accounting Standard and Companies Act, 2013.	This complies to follow the applicable accounting standards and regulatory requirements.
Disclosure	Balance Sheet does not disclose any particular transactions or events that happened within the period.	Financial statements can disclose important events, accounting policies, and other factors.