The Spreadsheet of Financial Statements

I have talked about Spreadsheets many times in this Blog but have not explained what they are or how to use them. All bankers will fill out a spreadsheet on your financials if you are applying for a business loan. All financial Analysts will also start with a spread for the analysis of your financial statements and sometimes for the projections.

A Spreadsheet, or Spread for short, is an Excel (you can use any other software for spreadsheets) Spreadsheet. The spreadsheet term is a generic term meaning a sort of accounting form that you can format with numbers and calculations. Our Spreadsheet or Spread, is a Form that will show the financial statements of a company or division etc., next to one another in sequential order by year, quarter, or month. It will show Trends in the  upward or downward movement of the Company’s Sales, Costs, and Expenses. The Spread will also have the ratios that are most important listed by year. Good Spreads will also show percentages of most the expense and profit numbers as they relate to Sales. Most analyst or bankers will perform all the calculations whether the spread calculates the numbers for them or not. My spread did not have the percentages for Sales, Costs or Expenses and I would calculate these by hand and write them on a printed spread. This is not a class in financial analysis so you will have to look up some of the spreadsheet terms and calculations yourself but most will be self explanatory. 

 

www.schlueterfinancial.com