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EXPLORE TOPIC

Statements & Forensics

Reading financial statements and spotting accounting red flags.

Financial statements are where a business tells its story, and this topic teaches you to read it and to catch when it is being spun.

It walks the three core statements, the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement, plus the measures that matter most, from EBITDA to free cash flow.

Then it turns forensic, covering earnings quality and the accounting red flags that precede many blowups.

Investing With Purpose keeps the focus on what the numbers reveal about a company's real health, not the version management prefers.

Work through it and a filing becomes a tool for diligence rather than a wall of figures you take on trust.

Statements & Forensics

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More in Statements & Forensics

Financial Statements
Revenue Recognition: When Sales Get Recorded

Revenue recognition is the accounting rule that decides **when** a sale shows up on the income statement. It is one of…

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Financial Statements
Operating Income vs Net Income: Know the Difference

Operating income and net income are two separate profit figures on the same income statement. One measures the core…

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Financial Statements
Basic vs Diluted EPS: Which Number Really Counts

Earnings per share (EPS) is the portion of a company's profit allocated to each common share. Companies report two…

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Financial Statements
Current vs Non-Current Assets: Reading Liquidity Fast

Every classified balance sheet splits assets into two buckets: those the company expects to use up or turn into cash…

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Financial Statements
Liabilities Balance Sheet: What the Company Owes and When

Liabilities are the claims outsiders have on a company. They sit on the right side of the balance sheet and tell you…

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Financial Statements
Shareholders Equity: What Owners Actually Own

Shareholders' equity is what is left for the owners of a company after you subtract everything the company owes from…

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Financial Statements
Working Capital: The Cash Tied Up in Operations

Working capital measures the short-term financial health of a business: whether it has enough near-cash assets to cover…

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Financial Statements
Operating Cash Flow: Measuring Core Business Cash Generation

Operating cash flow (OCF) is the cash a company generates from running its core business. It is the first of the three…

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Financial Statements
Investing Cash Flow: Reading Capital Allocation Decisions

Investing cash flow is the middle section of the cash flow statement and it records what a company spends on, or…

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Financial Statements
Financing Cash Flow: Debt, Equity, and Capital Returns

Financing cash flow is the third and final section of the cash flow statement. It records cash movements between the…

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Financial Statements
10-K Filing: What the Annual Report Actually Tells You

A 10-K is the annual report US public companies file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is the single most…

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Financial Statements
10-Q Filing: Reading the Quarterly SEC Report

A 10-Q is the quarterly report US public companies file with the Securities and Exchange Commission covering the first…

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Financial Statements
8-K Filing: How to Track Material Events in Real Time

An 8-K is the "current report" US public companies file when something material happens between their regular quarterly…

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Financial Statements
Product Revenue Line: How Companies Report Goods Sales

The product revenue line on an income statement reports cash earned from selling physical or digital goods, recognized…

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Financial Statements
Service Revenue Line: How Companies Book Services Sold

The service revenue line on an income statement reports fees earned from delivering work, expertise, or access rather…

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Financial Statements
Subscription Revenue Line: Ratable SaaS and Membership

The subscription revenue line on an income statement reports fees from customers who pay for ongoing access to a…

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Financial Statements
Rental Revenue Line: Lease Income on the Income Statement

The rental revenue line on an income statement reports the income a company earns from leasing property, equipment, or…

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Financial Statements
Other Operating Revenue: Side Income From Core Operations

The other operating revenue line captures income that comes from a company's ordinary business activities but does not…

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Financial Statements
Selling Expense: Sales Force, Commissions, and Distribution

The selling expense line on the income statement captures the cost of generating and supporting sales. It typically…

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Financial Statements
Marketing Expense: Brand and Demand Generation Costs

The marketing expense line on the income statement captures the cost of generating customer demand. It includes…

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Financial Statements
Cash and Equivalents: The Most Liquid Asset Line

Cash and equivalents is the first asset line on most balance sheets and the easiest one to misread. It bundles bank…

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Financial Statements
Restricted Cash: Money You Cannot Spend

Restricted cash is money a company holds but cannot use for general operations. It looks like cash on the balance…

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Financial Statements
Accounts Receivable: Money Customers Still Owe

The accounts receivable line shows money customers owe a company for goods or services already delivered. It is a…

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Financial Statements
Finished Goods Inventory: Ready-to-Sell Stock Value

Finished goods inventory is the value of completed products a company is holding and ready to sell to customers. It…

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