L2S | Informing Business
Managing Your Finances
   The premier online training company for small businesses
Money is the lifeline of your business. Finding it, managing and making it is one of the most critical aspects of starting and successfully running a business. In this section you'll learn how to prepare a cash budget, prepare a balance sheet, analyze ratios, create a cash flow statement and analyze profitability.
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 Business Tools
Prepare a Balance Sheet
With a properly prepared balance sheet, you can look at a balance sheet at the end of each accounting period and know if your business has more or less value, if your debts are higher or lower, and if your working capital is higher or lower. This tool shows you to prepare a statement and provides you with a template to prepare your own.
Create a Cash Flow Statement
This tool provides a detailed look into the various sections of a cash flow statement. It also describes two methods used to calculate cash flow from operating activities, indirect and direct with examples that will give you an edge when it comes time to prepare a cash flow statement of your own. This tool shows you to prepare a statement and provides you with a template to prepare your own.
Analyze Profitability
This tool provides some simple profitability ratios and analytical procedures that can help determine your company's present and future financial standing. With your findings, you can identify company trends and compare current figures to your business's historical performance. Once this essential data is in hand, you will be able to evaluate your business in relation to your competition and industry norms.
Prepare an Income Statement
Ask yourself: Exactly how are my products and services affecting my business? How much money am I actually making because of those products and services? An income statement answers these and other financial questions. An income statement tells you and any stockholders how your net assets have increased or decreased. This tool shows you to prepare a statement and provides you with a template to prepare your own.
Analyze Financial Ratios
To complete a thorough examination of your company's effectiveness, you'll want to look at more than just easily attainable numbers like sales, profits, and total assets. You'll want to be able to read between the lines of your financial statements and make the seemingly inconsequential numbers accessible and comprehensible. This tool shows you how to analyze financial ratios and what the ratios mean.