In: Accounting
(b) Discuss the purpose and limitation of a balance sheet.
The purpose and Limitation of Balance Sheet |
Purpose: |
i) To reveal the financial position of the company at a specific date |
ii) The Balance Sheet shows what an entity owns (assets) and how much it owes (liabilities), as well as the amount invested in the business (equity) |
iii) The current assets is compared to the current liabilities to estimate whether the company has access to sufficient funds in the short term to pay off its short-term obligations. |
Limitations: |
i) Balance sheets do not show true value of assets. Balance Sheet is recorded at historical cost and it may not reflect current market valuation. |
ii) Some of the current assets are valued on an estimated basis, so the balance sheet is not in a position to reflect the true financial position of the business. |
iii) The balance sheet can not reflect those assets which cannot be expressed in monetary terms, such as skill, intelligence, honesty, and loyalty of workers. |