Comparative balance sheet analyses the assets and liabilities of business for the current year and also compares the increase or decrease in them in relative as well as absolute parameters. Business organisations prepare financial statements in order to determine their financial position for a particular period. The primary purpose of preparing financial statements is to get an idea about the financial soundness of the organisation. It can also show abnormal spikes in the values of data which means there are errors in the given data. The comparative financial statement makes it easier to look at the performances of the company in multiple periods just by looking at only one document. Without a comparative statement, a person or a company would need to check the performances in two statements which can be tedious and non-systematic.

Comparative financial statements present the same company’s financial statements for one or two successive periods in side-by-side columns. The calculation of dollar changes or percentage changes in the statement items or totals is horizontal analysis. This analysis detects changes in a company’s performance and highlights trends. Financial statements provide a condensed, standardized view of a company’s activities to help both internal managers and external stakeholders analyze the business’s health and its potential for growth. The three primary financial statements – balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows – provide the core information in most financial reporting packages.

1. A comparison of Alice’s financial statements shows the change over the decade, both in absolute dollar amounts and as a percentage (see Figure 3.22, Figure 3.23, and Figure 3.24).
2. Finally, calculate the percentage change in the assets and liabilities of the current year relative to the previous year.
3. It can be achieved by finding the difference between previous year values with the current year values.
4. It is customary to issue comparative financial statements with additional columns containing the variance between periods, as well as the percentage change between periods.
5. This supplemental information provides context and more detailed information about the balances on the financial statements.
6. The purpose of comparative financial statements is to provide financial information about an entity for two or more reporting periods.

Cash may be received when money is borrowed, so an increase in liabilities may create a positive cash flow. Comparative statements or comparative financial statements are statements of financial position of a business at different periods. These statements help in determining the profitability of the business by comparing financial data from two or more accounting periods.

Objectives of financial statement

Comparative balance sheet describes the company’s financial position at the end of the accounting period day for multiple periods. A comparative income statement displays an income statement with figures from multiple accounting periods. Comparative financial statements may not be comparable if the companies being compared have different business models or operate in different industries. Comparative financial statements can be complex to prepare, especially if a company has changed its accounting policies or there have been other significant changes from one period to the next.

Comparative Statement Limitations

Adding prior period figures, complete with percentage changes, helps to eliminate this problem. Income statements provide the details about the results of the operations of the business, and comparative income statements provide the progress made by the business over a period of a few years. This statement also helps in ascertaining the changes that occur in each line item of the income statement over different periods. When comparing two or more periods, it is important to consider the effect of inflation on the data. Inflation can cause financial data to increase over time, even if a company’s actual performance has not changed.

Comparative Statements

Now given this, let’s try to understand how a comparative statement is interpreted using an example. Consider the following income statement for M/s Singhania for the years ended December 31st, 2017 and December 31st, 2018. Secondly, the cash and bank balance of Kapoor and Co. have decreased by 91.5%. It further hints towards the fact that the company might find it challenging to meet its short-term obligations.

Income Statement

This supplemental information provides context and more detailed information about the balances on the financial statements. For example, the notes might explain the depreciation methods used in the income statement or list the details of individual leases that were consolidated into a single amount on the balance sheet. Management’s analysis of financial
statements primarily comparative financial statement relates to parts of the company. Using this
approach, management can plan, evaluate, and control operations
within the company. Management obtains any information it wants
about the company’s operations by requesting special-purpose
reports. It uses this information to make difficult decisions, such
as which employees to lay off and when to expand operations.

Our
primary focus in this chapter, however, is not on the special
reports accountants prepare for management. Finally, calculate the percentage change in the income statement items of the current year relative to the previous year. This percentage change https://personal-accounting.org/ in items is mentioned in Column V of the comparative income statement. Apart from comparing income statements of its own business over different time periods, a business owner can compare the operating results of its competitor firms as well.

Chapter 3: Reconstitution of a Partnership Firm: Change in Profit Sharing Ratio

Finally, there is a considerable increase seen in the fixed assets of the company. Accordingly, the fixed assets increased by Rs 79,000 or 64.9% from the year 2017 to 2018. This was on account of the huge addition made to the plant and machinery by the company in the given accounting periods. Comparative statements show the effect of business decisions on a company’s bottom line.

It is customary to issue comparative financial statements with additional columns containing the variance between periods, as well as the percentage change between periods. The comparative income statement not only shows the operational efficiency of the business but also helps in comparing the results with the competitors, over different time periods. This is possible by comparing the operational data spanning multiple periods of accounting.

PwC refers to the US member firm or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors. Assume, for example, that a manufacturer’s cost of goods sold (COGS) increases from 30% of sales to 45% of sales over three years.

Since she has less debt, having paid off her student loan, she now has positive net worth. For example, it is immediately obvious that Alice’s student loan dwarfs her assets’ value and creates her negative net worth. Again, rent is the biggest discretionary use of cash for living expenses, but debts demand the most significant portion of cash flows.