Assets, liabilities and ownership equity are listed as of a specific date, such as the end of its financial year.
[2] A standard company balance sheet has two sides: assets on the left, and financing on the right–which itself has two parts; liabilities and ownership equity.
Often, these businesses owe money to suppliers and to tax authorities, and the proprietors do not withdraw all their original capital and profits at the end of each period.
A balance sheet summarizes an organization's or individual's assets, equity and liabilities at a specific point in time.
[5] Larger businesses tend to have more complex balance sheets, and these are presented in the organization's annual report.
[7] A balance sheet is often presented alongside one for a different point in time (typically the previous year) for comparison.
[12] In England and Wales, smaller charities which are not also companies are permitted to file a statement of assets and liabilities instead of a balance sheet.
[13] Guidelines for balance sheets of public business entities are given by the International Accounting Standards Board and numerous country-specific organizations/companies.
Balance sheet substantiation includes multiple processes including reconciliation (at a transactional or at a balance level) of the account, a process of review of the reconciliation and any pertinent supporting documentation and a formal certification (sign-off) of the account in a predetermined form driven by corporate policy.
Balance sheet substantiation is an important process that is typically carried out on a monthly, quarterly and year-end basis.
These solutions are suitable for organizations with a high volume of accounts and/or personnel involved in the Balance Sheet Substantiation process and can be used to drive efficiencies, improve transparency and help to reduce risk.
Balance sheet substantiation is a key control process in the SOX 404 top-down risk assessment.