{"id":19861,"date":"2023-01-04T15:56:58","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T15:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/?p=19861"},"modified":"2023-01-04T15:59:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T15:59:35","slug":"how-to-read-a-set-of-management-accounts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/how-to-read-a-set-of-management-accounts\/","title":{"rendered":"How to read a set of management accounts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In order to grow and succeed, you need to effectively manage your finances and monitor the health of your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Previously, we looked at what management accounts are and how you can make the best use of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, understanding how to read these is perhaps the most important part of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Profit and loss statement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to reading and understanding a profit and loss statement, there are multiple things to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not only will it provide you with a better grasp of your expenses, including salaries and benefits, but it is also a great way to examine your revenue, by recording any activity and income from sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most profit and loss statements include a gross margin calculation. This shows you how much money your business has for operational purposes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, you can compare your financial position from the current year to those that have passed, to determine whether profits are increasing or decreasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Balance sheet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your balance sheet aims to summarise your assets, liabilities, and owners\u2019 equity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The data included in a balance sheet will typically be structured as&nbsp;Assets = Liabilities + Owners\u2019 Equity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By definition, an asset is anything owned by your business that holds value, whereas a liability is something that your business&nbsp;owes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly, owners\u2019 equity is what\u2019s left over after your liabilities are accounted for and deducted from your assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cash flow statement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cash flow statement is typically split into three parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Operating activities include revenue and expenses, referring to the cash flow that\u2019s produced once your usual goods or services are delivered.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Investing activities&nbsp;consist of cash flow generated by buying or selling assets using free cash.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thirdly, financing activities&nbsp;refer to&nbsp;cash flow that comes from both debt and equity financing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on management accounts and how to utilise them, keep an eye out for the next blog in our series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Need advice? Contact our team today.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In order to grow and succeed, you need to effectively manage your finances and monitor the health of your business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-business-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19861"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19865,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19861\/revisions\/19865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}