financial statements

A firm’s reports that provide an account of a company’s past performance, a picture of its current financial strength and a glimpse into the future potential of a firm. The role of financial reporting for companies is to provide information about their fiscal health and financial performance. As investors, we use financial reports to evaluate the past, current and prospective performance and financial position of a company. These statements allow us to compare one firm to another and form the basis of valuing the worth of a stock. The three most important financial statements are the balance sheet, the cash flow statement and the income statement. These statements can be found in the company’s annual and quarterly reports.