Overview
Financial statements are customizable compilations of financial data designed for reporting in financial audit engagements. Access them in the Financial Statements menu of an engagement.
Both the trial balance and financial statements are based on the same underlying data—the client’s accounting data. While the trial balance is a raw list of accounts and balances, financial statements allow you to organize and categorize these accounts into customized line items and sections for reporting.
How it works
Fieldguide uses the existing structure from your trial balance and account mappings to generate a report-ready financial statement. Every client account inside the trial balance is mapped to a firm account from your financial audit framework (chart of accounts). Different frameworks may be designed for different purposes, such as industry or company type (e.g. construction companies, education, etc). This framework (also called a "mapping framework") acts as the foundation that you'll build your financial statement on top of.
Firm accounts can be linked to line items in the financial statement. Line items can have multiple firm-level accounts linked to them.
To view which firm accounts are linked to a line item, click the Accounts button on a line item's Linked Firm Accounts column.
The total value of each line item will calculate automatically based on the account values inside the trial balance. Click on a line item's value to drill down on the client accounts that contribute to that total.
Types of statements
Financial statements are customizable and allow for various types of formats for reporting tailored to your standards. While you can create a statement from scratch in any engagement, your firm may benefit from creating templates for common financial statement types. For example:
Balance sheet (Statement of Financial Position): Provides a snapshot of the company’s assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time.
Statement of Operations (Profit and Loss Statement): Summarizes a company's revenues, expenses, and net income (or loss) over a specific period.
Statement of Cash Flows: Details cash inflows and outflows over a specific period, categorized into operating, investing, and financing activities.