What is financial statement analysis

Financial statement analysis is the process of reviewing and evaluating a company's financial statements (such as the balance sheet or profit and loss statement), thereby gaining an understanding of the financial health of the company and enabling more effective decision making. Financial statements record financial data; however, this information must be evaluated through financial statement analysis to become more useful to investors, shareholders, managers and other interested parties.

Methods of Financial Statement Analysis

There are two key methods for analyzing financial statements. The first method is the use of horizontal and vertical analysis. Horizontal analysisis the comparison of financial information over a series of reporting periods, while vertical analysis is the proportional analysis of a financial statement, where each line item on a financial statement is listed as a percentage of another item. Typically, this means that every line item on an income statement is stated as a percentage of gross sales, while every line item on a balance sheet is stated as a percentage of total assets. Thus, horizontal analysis is the review of the results of multiple time periods, while vertical analysis is the review of the proportion of accounts to each other within a single period.

The second method for analyzing financial statements is the use of many kinds of ratios. Ratios are used to calculate the relative size of one number in relation to another. After a ratio is calculated, you can then compare it to the same ratio calculated for a prior period, or that is based on an industry average, to see if the company is performing in accordance with expectations. In a typical financial statement analysis, most ratios will be within expectations, while a small number will flag potential problems that will attract the attention of the reviewer.

Problems with Financial Statement Analysis

While financial statement analysis is an excellent tool, there are several issues to be aware of that can interfere with your interpretation of the analysis results. These issues are:

·       Comparability between periods. The company preparing the financial statements may have changed the accounts in which it stores financial information, so that results may differ from period to period. For example, an expense may appear in the cost of goods sold in one period, and in administrative expenses in another period.

·       Comparability between companies. An analyst frequently compares the financial ratios of different companies in order to see how they match up against each other. However, each company may aggregate financial information differently, so that the results of their ratios are not really comparable. This can lead an analyst to draw incorrect conclusions about the results of a company in comparison to its competitors.

·       Operational information. Financial analysis only reviews a company's financial information, not its operational information, so you cannot see a variety of key indicators of future performance, such as the size of the order backlog, or changes in warranty claims. Thus, financial analysis only presents part of the total picture