07-22-2014, 04:00 PM
Format of balance sheet :
Format
The balance sheet can be reported in two different formats: account form and report form. The account form consists of two columns displaying assets on the left column of the report and liabilities and equity on the right column. You can think of this like debits and credits. The debit accounts are displayed on the left and credit accounts are on the right.
The report form, on the other hand, only has one column. This form is more of a traditional report that is issued by companies. Assets are always present first followed by liabilities and equity.
In both formats, assets are categorized into current and long-term assets. Current assets consist of resources that will be used in the current year, while long-term assets are resources lasting longer than one year.
Liabilities are also separated into current and long-term categories.
Like all financial statements, the balance sheet has a heading that display's the company name, title of the statement and the time period of the report.