How to Read a Balance Sheet in 7 Minutes

I've spent 23+ years studying Finance with the last 8 as a CFO, and

I'll teach you How to Read a Balance Sheet in the next 7 minutes:

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

A balance sheet is a snapshot of your business at a specific point in time, and

It tells you whether your business is stable and financially healthy:

• Is there cash
• Can you pay your bills
• How much debt do you have
• What is the book value of the business

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Balance Sheet Structure

The structure of a balance sheet is:

Assets = Liabilities + Equity

This formula is intuitive when you remember,

A company has to pay for what it owns (assets) by either:

• borrowing money (liabilities), or
• bringing on investors (equity)

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Assets are What You Own

Listed top to bottom in order of liquidity, which is how fast they can be converted to cash:

• cash
• inventory (goods available for sale)
• accounts receivable (what people owe you)
• Fixed assets (land, machinery, equipment, and buildings)

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Liabilities are What You Owe

Current liabilities are due within 1 year:

• accounts payable
• income tax payable
• current portion of debt

Long-term liabilities are due at any point after that:

• long-term debt
• mortgages payable

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Equity is What You're Worth

If you sold your assets and paid your liabilities, equity's what's left over:

• money contributed (common shares)
• profits taken out of the business (dividends)
• earnings retained in the business (retained earnings)

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Balance Sheet Analysis

Now that we know how the financial statement is structured,

we can talk about how to analyze it.

There are three types of ratios we'll review on the balance sheet:

• liquidity
• solvency
• profitability

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Liquidity Ratios

Liquidity ratios show your ability to turn assets into cash and include:

• cash ratio
• quick ratio
• current ratio

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Solvency Ratios

Solvency ratios show your ability to pay off debts and include:

• cash ratio
• quick ratio
• current ratio
• debt to equity
• interest coverage
• essential solvency ratio

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Profitability Ratios

Profitability ratios show your ability to generate income from your balance sheet assets and include:

• return on assets
• return on equity
• return on invested capital
• return on capital employed

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Cash Ratio

The cash ratio measures your total cash and cash equivalents against your total liabilities.

It is an indicator of your value under a worst case scenario, such as a bankruptcy or business shutdown.

A larger ratio is better. pic.twitter.com/QO7WzdiMWA

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Quick Ratio

The quick ratio measures your ability to meet your short-term obligations with your most liquid assets - also called the acid test ratio.

A higher ratio = better liquidity and financial health. pic.twitter.com/fDiuI5BAp4

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Current Ratio

The current ratio measures your ability to pay short-term obligations or those due within one year, sometimes called the working capital ratio.

A ratio less than one indicates any debts due within one year are greater than your current assets. pic.twitter.com/u1VoCLWlSr

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Debt to Equity

The debt-to-equity ratio compares total liabilities against total equity, and

It's used to evaluate how much leverage you're using in your business.

Less than 1 = safe
Greater than 2 = risky

Debt-to-equity is heavily dependent on the industry. pic.twitter.com/uBw3uQ4FMe

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

• Future ratios

The following ratios will be reviewed when we look at the income statement:

Solvency:

• interest coverage
• essential solvency ratio

Profitability:

• return on assets
• return on equity
• return on invested capital
• return on capital employed

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

This has been a "cheat sheet" on how to read a Balance Sheet in 7 minutes.

If you found value from this, please:

1. Follow @IAmClintMurphy
2. Retweet the first tweet:https://t.co/FGUzXovYwI

— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023

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— Clint Murphy (@IAmClintMurphy) June 17, 2023