Sources of information for financial analysis

Abstract

The article is devoted to financial analysis as a tool for business development and forecasting the future plan for its stable operation. The types of financial analysis, users, groups of financial statements by type of information are also considered, the structure of the balance sheet is considered. The article is based on the materials of international standards used in the countries of the European Union. The article is intended to be informative for researchers from countries outside the European Union. Financial analysis can be characterized as a systematic tool for monitoring the financial condition of the company on the base of the analysis of information that are primarily to find in the financial statements of the company. However, financial analysis is not only a sort of statistical assessment of the current situation, but it is also reflective of the past management and to some extent it can also predict the future financial conditions. In business sphere, where due to the economic environment many unexpected changes occur, financial analysis represents for many a very useful, for others absolutely vital instrument to regulate corporate planning, to which the finances are obviously inseparably connected. Whoever creates the financial analysis (be it of one’s own business or e.g. of potential business partners) acquires additional information and thus also a certain amount of benefits with it.