Home/Services/Bookkeeping/Financial Statement Preparation
Statements A Lender Can Read Without Squinting.
Profit and loss, balance sheet and statement of cash flows, prepared on a schedule you can plan around, on an income tax or GAAP basis, and laid out so every line means something for your business.
Financial Statement Preparation In Michigan
Sooner or later someone outside the business asks for your financial statements. A bank renewing a line of credit, a partner buying in, an investor, a landlord on a new lease. The owner who can send a clean set that week has a very different conversation from the one who needs a month to pull something together.
We prepare statements monthly, quarterly or once a year, always from books we have reviewed, adjusted and closed. It is part of our bookkeeping services for businesses throughout Michigan and virtually nationwide, and it usually sits on top of monthly bookkeeping, so the statements are never a scramble.
Three Statements, Each Answering A Different Question
Read together, they show what you earned, what you own and owe, and where the cash actually went.
Prepared To Be Read By People Who Check
Prepared statements are built to the standard a lender, partner or investor reads: consistent formatting, reconciled balances and figures that tie back to the ledger. When someone asks about a line, there is an answer and a workpaper behind it.
Audited and reviewed statements, and compilations issued with an accountant's report, are a different kind of engagement and not part of our practice. When a lender or agency requires one, we refer you to a partner firm and have the books ready for them.
If you want the numbers explained every month rather than simply delivered, our monthly financial reporting package adds comparisons and a short written note on what moved and why.
Before Your Statements Go To A Lender
Which basis should my financial statements use?
It depends on who reads them. Income tax basis matches the return and suits many owner-managed businesses. GAAP basis is what some lenders, investors and larger partners expect, especially once a loan agreement sets reporting terms. If you are unsure, ask the reader what they require, and we will prepare to that.
How often should I have statements prepared?
Monthly if you make decisions from them, carry inventory or report to a lender during the year. Quarterly works for steadier, lower-volume businesses. At minimum, a closed year-end set supports the tax return and any financing that comes up. We match the schedule to what the business actually needs.
Can you prepare statements if someone else keeps our books?
Yes, once we have reviewed the file and made the adjustments it needs. We do not prepare statements from numbers we have not reviewed. If the books are behind, catch-up bookkeeping comes first, and we tell you up front what shape the records are in.
Do I need financial statements if nobody is asking for them?
Yes, if you want to run the business from something better than the bank balance. Statements show whether margin is holding, where the cash went and how this year compares with last. They also mean that when a bank, partner or buyer does ask, the answer is ready that week.
The Bookkeeping Behind Every Statement
Every account reconciled and every month closed, which is what makes statements quick to prepare and easy to trust.
Monthly bookkeeping in detail Chart Of Accounts SetupAn account structure that makes each line of your statements mean something for your business.
Chart of accounts setup in detail Annual BookkeepingA full year built and closed, including catch-up work when the records have slipped.
Annual bookkeeping in detail Bookkeeping OverviewMonthly, quarterly and annual bookkeeping, financial statements, chart of accounts and QuickBooks Online, all on one page.
Return to BookkeepingHave Statements Ready Before The Bank Asks
Tell us who needs to read your numbers and by when. We will work out which basis and schedule suit that reader, and what the books need first.