Financial Management Goal

  This week you are reading about three financial statements used in business: the Balance Sheet, the Income Statement, and the Cash Flow Statement. Some of you may deal with financial statements on a daily basis, while others have never seen one except in the textbook. Regardless of the depth or breadth of your experience, allow this discussion question to help you think about how each of these statements could be useful in your current position or even to allow you to move to the next level. If you are currently unemployed, you may consider a past position or think about how you could use these financial statements to make a decision about a job for which you might apply. Begin by stating what your position is at your current place of employment and what you are responsible for. Then write three paragraphs, one about the balance sheet, one about the income statement, and one about the cash flow statement, stating how you use or could use the statement in your own position. How does (or would) the information help you better understand the company, and what part of each statement could you influence through your actions? As an example, on the income statement you may see that if you boost sales through your marketing efforts, revenue and profit would go up. If you cut back on overtime labor, costs would decrease, thus raising the profit margin. If you don’t think you could influence anything on one of the statements, then explain what you would like to be able to influence.