Financial statements

In the modern capitalist system, most governments require publicly-traded
companies to issue a set of documents each year called financial statements
or financial reports. This set most often consists of the "balance sheet",
the "income statement", the "statement of retained earnings", and the
"statement of cash flows", in addition to supplementary notes and management
discussion. In the United States, publicly-traded companies are required to
prepare based on generally accepted accounting principles.

Each statement presents financial data relating to a company's current
financial health, business results for the previous period, and other
indicators that are used by prospective investors to consider purchasing the
company's stock.

To entice new investors, most American companies assemble their financial
statements on fine paper with pleasing graphics and photos, attempting to
capture the excitement and culture of the organization in a "marketing
brochure" of sorts.

Financial statements must be carefully inspected and certified by
independent auditors to avoid misleading information and fraudulent
financial presentation, as required by law.

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