Read the Balance Sheet

The Balance Sheet is the facility’s position at a point in time: what it owns (assets), what it owes (liabilities), and what is left over for the owners (equity). The defining identity is assets = liabilities + equity — Veona computes it live from the General Ledger and proves it balances.

Who / when: the Accountant, Finance Manager and read-only Auditor read the Balance Sheet — at period-end, year-end, or any “as of” date you need.

We will follow Tunde the finance officer, checking the position as at the end of last month.

A few terms first

• Assets — what the facility owns or is owed: cash, bank, stock, receivables, fixed assets.
• Liabilities — what it owes: payables, accruals, taxes withheld.
• Equity — the residual: capital plus accumulated profits.
• Retained Earnings — profit (or loss) the facility has accumulated and kept; net P&L to date is folded into equity here.
• As-of date — the Balance Sheet is cumulative up to one date, not a span; it is a snapshot.

Read it

1. Accountant — open Finance & Ledger → Balance Sheet. Veona shows Assets on one side and Liabilities with Equity on the other, each section listing its accounts and amounts.

2. Accountant — note the Retained Earnings (Net P&L) line folded into the equity section: that is the profit to date, carried into equity, which is what makes the sheet balance against the income and expense already earned.

3. Accountant — read the Position panel: Total Assets, Total Liabilities, Total Equity (Incl. Retained Earnings), and Liabilities + Equity. The Balanced / Out Of Balance tag confirms assets equal liabilities plus equity.

4. Accountant — set the as-of date in the report filters and press Apply to see the position at that moment. You can also slice by a cost center or project dimension.

Note

The Balance Sheet is a snapshot at a date; the Income Statement is the flow over a period that explains how equity changed between two snapshots. Closing the year posts the accumulated profit firmly into Retained Earnings (see Fiscal Years and Periods).

What happens next

You have now seen all the position and performance statements. The Cash Flow completes the set by showing the actual money that moved through your cash and bank accounts.

Follow the trail

• Previous: Read the Income Statement (Profit & Loss)
• Next: Read the Cash Flow
• Related: Read the Trial Balance · Read the Fixed-Asset Register in Finance · Open, Close and Lock Fiscal Years and Periods