Want to know about the health and profitability of a company so you can decide whether to invest, divest, lend, sue, agree to a long-term relationship as a supplier, customer, employee? You’ll need to know basics about typical financial statements (FS) like Sage’s Balance Sheet (BS), Income Statement (IS), Statement of Cash Flows (SCF), Statement of Equity (SOE).
All: Audit opinion type (adverse , qualified , unqualified , disclaimer )
All: The 4 pieces of information in the heading of every financial statement (FS)
Company name, name of report, specific dates and unit of currency
All: The notice at the end of every FS
The notes which follow at the end of the FS’
All: Which FS reports a company’s profit (BS, IS, SCF, or SOE)?
All; Which FS reports a company’s financial condition (ability to cover obligations)?
BS: Specific title
BS: Specific dates reported
BS: Chronological order (left to right) in which data is presented
BS: Overall formula
BS: The accounts presented as clearly net of other amounts
BS: The line items that have no amounts
BS: The kinds and number of stock shares authorized, issued, outstanding
IS: The specific title of the IS
IS: Specific periods
IS: Nature of positive income elements (Revenue? Income? Gains?)
IS: Expense categories (negative income elements)
IS: Nature of negative income elements other than expenses (Losses?)
IS: Decreasing subtotals
IS: Earnings Per Share categories and calculations
IS: Number of stock shares outstanding, if reported in EPS calculations; same as BS?
SCF: Specific title
SCF: Specific period(s)
SCF: Sections
SCF: Overall formula
SCF: Info provided outside of SCF formula
SCF: Method used to prepare first SCF section? (If starts with Net Income, is indirect  method. If starts with Cash in from Customers, is direct  method.)
SCF: Which Sage sections clearly report causes of cash in and out?
SOE: Specific title
SOE: Specific period(s)
SOE: Any nonfinancial info
SOE: What is SOE formula for each year reported?
All: For which FSs does Sage provide segment data in the notes?
All: Which FSs support