📊 Session 8: An Introduction to Financial Statements

🔍 Overview

This session introduces participants to the essential financial statements that every entrepreneur should understand. Through real-world examples and a breakdown of key reports, you’ll learn how to evaluate the financial health of your business and use that knowledge to inform smart decisions.

🧠 Learning Objectives

• Understand Core Financial Reports: Learn the purpose and structure of income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.
• Analyze Financial Health: Understand how to interpret net income, working capital, and owner’s equity.
• Track Business Performance: Learn how financial reports can help manage budgets, assess spending, and set revenue targets.
• Connect Budgeting to Forecasting: Build on the previous session’s budgeting skills by seeing how financial reports track outcomes.

📝 Pre-Session Assignments

1. Review Session 8 PowerPoint Presentation
2. Complete Session 8 Worksheets/Assessments

📄 Business Plan Focus

This session supports the development of your Financial Plan section by guiding you through:

• Income Statement (P&L): Summary of revenue, expenses, and profit.
• Statement of Owner’s Equity: Changes in the owner’s interest in the business.
• Balance Sheet: Snapshot of assets, liabilities, and equity at a point in time.
• Statement of Cash Flows: Breakdown of money moving in and out of the business.

📚 Additional Resources

• The Top 20 Social Media Apps and Sites in 2022 (makeuseof.com)
• 6 Reasons Why Public Speaking Is Essential to Business Success – AllBusiness.com
• What is an Elevator Pitch? Examples and Templates for Students and Jobseekers (phoenix.edu)

GET INSPIRED BY ANOTHER FOUNDER’S STORY!

In this episode of How I Built This, Chelsea Fagan discusses how she founded The Financial Diet, a platform aimed at making personal finance more accessible and relatable, especially for young women. Fagan’s journey underscores the importance of financial literacy and the challenges of introducing financial education in a way that resonates with a broader audience. Her insights provide valuable lessons on the significance of understanding financial statements and the impact of transparent financial planning.

LISTEN NOW!