Atlanta CPA Advises America's Business Owners & Entrepreneurs on Preparing a Balance Sheet...The Atlanta Bookkeeping Series

Atlanta CPA Advises America's Business Owners & Entrepreneurs on Preparing a Balance Sheet...The Atlanta Bookkeeping Series

How to Prepare a Balance Sheet

Preparing a balance sheet in good form will break out the assets and liabilities separating the long-term from the short-term items as well as a separate section for equity. Short-term items are those that are anticipated to be utilized/spent/collected/paid within the next twelve-month period. Long-term assets/liabilities are those whose ultimate disposition is to be addressed beyond the following year and not within it.

A Balance sheet begin with the current asset section with cash usually listed first and then with accounts receivable and inventory following next. Any other short-term items would also be included in this section with care given to presentation to ensure that like kind items and accounts are appropriately detailed and segregated.

Next the long-term assets of a business are listed, consisting of items that will be held by a business beyond the next twelve-month period. In this category you will find a company's fixed assets such as equipment, furniture and fixtures, vehicles, and leasehold improvements along with their corresponding amortization. Other long-term assets might include any deposits the company has paid or other items anticipated to be an asset beyond the next year.

Subsequently on a company's financial/balance sheet you will find the current liabilities section, which will list all of the items a firm owes and believes it will need to address short term. This section typically will have included in accounts payable, payroll and sales taxes payable, customer deposits, and any short term portion of any notes payable (the long term principal portion of the note will appear on long term debt section which should immediately follow the current liability section).

A balance sheet ends with the equity/stock section which details a company's stock, retained earnings/capital account, distributions/dividends, and the annual year to date net income (loss) of the business for which most accounting packages rolls forward from the profit and loss. Your distribution account should be closed at the end of each year to the retained earnings/capital account at the end of each year so that the net worth of a business might be tracked.

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