Balance Sheet

资产负债表

By Adam Hayes

Reviewed By Margaret James 

Updated May 13, 2020

作者：Adam Hayes

审核人：Margaret James 

更新时间：2020年5月13日

 

What Is a Balance Sheet?

什么是资产负债表？

 

A balance sheet is a financial statement that reports a company's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity at a specific point in time, and provides a basis for computing rates of return and evaluating its capital structure. It is a financial statement that provides a snapshot of what a company owns and owes, as well as the amount invested by shareholders.

资产负债表是报告企业在某一特定日期的资产、负债和股东权益的财务报表，是计算企业收益率和评估企业资本结构的基础。这一财务报表反映了公司的资产和负债以及股东投资的金额。

The balance sheet is used alongside other important financial statements such as the income statement and statement of cash flows in conducting fundamental analysis or calculating financial ratios.

资产负债表和利润表、现金流量表等其他重要的财务报表一起用于进行基本面分析或计算财务比率。

 

Key Takeaways

文章要点

· A balance sheet is a financial statement that reports a company's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity.

资产负债表是报告企业在某一特定日期的资产、负债和股东权益的财务报表。

· The balance sheet is one of the three (income statement and statement of cash flows being the other two) core financial statements used to evaluate a business.

资产负债表是用于企业评估的三大财务报表（其他两个为利润表和现金流量表）之一。

· The balance sheet is a snapshot, representing the state of a company's finances (what it owns and owes) as of the date of publication. 

资产负债表就像一张快照一样，反映了一家企业截至报表发布之日的财务状况（企业的资产和负债）。

 

· Fundamental analysts use balance sheets, in conjunction with other financial statements, to calculate financial ratios.

基本面分析师使用资产负债表和其他财务报表计算财务比率。

 

Formula Used for a Balance Sheet

资产负债表计算公式

 

The balance sheet adheres to the following accounting equation, where assets on one side, and liabilities plus shareholders' equity on the other, balance out:

资产负债表遵循以下会计等式，等式一边为资产，另一边为负债加股东权益，两边相平衡：

 

Assets=Liabilities+Shareholders’ Equity

资产=负债+股东权益

 

This formula is intuitive: a company has to pay for all the things it owns (assets) by either borrowing money (taking on liabilities) or taking it from investors (issuing shareholders' equity).

这一公式是非常直观的：企业需要通过借钱（负债）或通过投资者（发行股东权益）为其所拥有的一切（资产）买单。

 

For example, if a company takes out a five-year, $4,000 loan from a bank, its assets (specifically, the cash account) will increase by $4,000. Its liabilities (specifically, the long-term debt account) will also increase by $4,000, balancing the two sides of the equation. If the company takes $8,000 from investors, its assets will increase by that amount, as will its shareholders' equity. All revenues the company generates in excess of its expenses will go into the shareholders' equity account. These revenues will be balanced on the assets side, appearing as cash, investments, inventory, or some other asset.

比如说，一家企业向银行借入4000美元贷款，为期5年，其资产（具体而言，现金科目）的资产将增加4000美元。同时，其负债（具体而言，长期负债科目）也会增加4000美元，从而使等式两边处于平衡。如果该企业从投资者处获得8000美元的投资，那么其资产和股东权益也会相应的增加该等数额。该企业创造的超出其支出的收入也会计入股东权益。这些收入将以现金、投资、库存或是其他资产的形式出现在资产一边，从而使等式两边保持平衡。

 

Assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity each consist of several smaller accounts that break down the specifics of a company's finances. These accounts vary widely by industry, and the same terms can have different implications depending on the nature of the business. Broadly, however, there are a few common components investors are likely to come across.

资产、负债和股东权益各自又包括多个细分企业财务状况的科目。行业不同，这些科目也会有很大的不同，且同样的术语可能因企业业务的性质而产生不同的含义。但是，总体而言，还是有一些科目是投资者经常会见到的。

 

What's On the Balance Sheet?

资产负债表上有什么？

Theresa Chiechi {Copyright} Investopedia, 2019.

Theresa Chiechi {版权} Investopedia, 2019.

 

The balance sheet is a snapshot representing the state of a company's finances at a moment in time. By itself, it cannot give a sense of the trends that are playing out over a longer period. For this reason, the balance sheet should be compared with those of previous periods. It should also be compared with those of other businesses in the same industry since different industries have unique approaches to financing.

资产负债表就像一张快照一样，反映了企业在某一特定时期的财务状况。资产负债表本身并不能让我们了解企业在未来一段时间的走势。因此，应将资产负债表与前期的资产负债表进行比较。由于不同行业的融资方式不同，因此，也应将资产负债表与同行业其他企业的资产负债表进行比较。

 

A number of ratios can be derived from the balance sheet, helping investors get a sense of how healthy a company is. These include the debt-to-equity ratio and the acid-test ratio, along with many others. The income statement and statement of cash flows also provide valuable context for assessing a company's finances, as do any notes or addenda in an earnings report that might refer back to the balance sheet.

资产负债表可以衍生出很多财务比率，从而帮助投资者了解企业的健康状况。这些比率有债务股本比、速度比率等。正如收益报告中可能会参考资产负债表的任何注释或附录一样，利润表和现金流量表也为评估企业的财务状况提供了有价值的信息，

 

Assets

资产

 

Within the assets segment, accounts are listed from top to bottom in order of their liquidity – that is, the ease with which they can be converted into cash. They are divided into current assets, which can be converted to cash in one year or less; and non-current or long-term assets, which cannot.

在资产这一部分，各科目主要按其流动性自上到下排列，流动性即资产变现的难易程度。资产一般分为流动资产（可以在一年或更短的时间内变现）和非流动资产或长期资产（不能在一年内变现）。

Here is the general order of accounts within current assets:

以下为流动资产科目的一般顺序：

 

· Cash and cash equivalents are the most liquid assets and can include Treasury bills and short-term certificates of deposit, as well as hard currency.

现金和现金等价物指流动性最强的资产，包括短期国债、短期定期存款和硬通货。

 

· Marketable securities are equity and debt securities for which there is a liquid market.

流通证券指有流动性市场的股权和债券。

 

· Accounts receivable refers to money that customers owe the company, perhaps including an allowance for doubtful accounts since a certain proportion of customers can be expected not to pay.

应收款项指客户欠公司的钱，可能会包含坏账准备，因为部分客户的帐未来可能无法收回。

 

· Inventory is goods available for sale, valued at the lower of the cost or market price.

存货指以备出售的产品，价格按成本或市场价计算（以较低者为准）。

 

· Prepaid expenses represent the value that has already been paid for, such as insurance, advertising contracts or rent. 

预付费用指企业已经支付的价值，如保险、广告合约或租金。

 

Long-term assets include the following:

长期资产包括以下科目：

 

· Long-term investments are securities that will not or cannot be liquidated in the next year. 

长期投资指不会或不能在下一年转变为现金的证券。

 

· Fixed assets include land, machinery, equipment, buildings and other durable, generally capital-intensive assets. 

固定资产包括土地、机器、设备、建筑物和其他耐用的、通常属于资本密集型的资产。

 

· Intangible assets include non-physical (but still valuable) assets such as intellectual property and goodwill. In general, intangible assets are only listed on the balance sheet if they are acquired, rather than developed in-house. Their value may thus be wildly understated – by not including a globally recognized logo, for example – or just as wildly overstated. 

无形资产包括没有实物形态的（但仍有价值的）资产，如知识产权和商誉。一般来说，无形资产只有在获得后（而非在内部开发时）才会被列示于资产负债表中。无形资产的价值可能会被大大地低估（例如，因没有全球认可的Logo）或被大大地高估。

 

Liabilities

负债

 

Liabilities are the money that a company owes to outside parties, from bills it has to pay to suppliers to interest on bonds it has issued to creditors to rent, utilities and salaries. Current liabilities are those that are due within one year and are listed in order of their due date. Long-term liabilities are due at any point after one year.

负债指企业欠外部各方的钱，从企业必须向供应商支付的账单、企业向其所发行的债券的债权人的支付的利息到租金、水电费和公司。流动负债指一年内到期并按到期日列示于资产负债表中的负债。长期负债指偿还期在一年以上的债务。

Current liabilities accounts might include:

流动负债科目可能包括：

· current portion of long-term debt 长期债务中本年内到期部分

· bank indebtedness 银行负债

· interest payable应付利息

· wages payable应付薪资

· customer prepayments客户预付款

· dividends payable and others应付股息和其他

· earned and unearned premiums已赚和未赚保费

· accounts payable应付款项

Long-term liabilities can include:

长期负债包括：

 

· Long-term debt: interest and principal on bonds issued

长期债务：已发行的债券的利息和本金

· Pension fund liability: the money a company is required to pay into its employees' retirement accounts 

退休金负债：企业需要向其雇员的退休账户支付的资金

· Deferred tax liability: taxes that have been accrued but will not be paid for another year (Besides timing, this figure reconciles differences between requirements for financial reporting and the way tax is assessed, such as depreciation calculations.) 

递延所得税负债：已预提计入但在下一年不会支付的税项。（除时间外，这一数字还会调整财务报告要求与税项评估方式的不同（如折旧计算的不同）产生的差额。

 

Some liabilities are considered off the balance sheet, meaning that they will not appear on the balance sheet.

一些负债被视为资产负债表表外项目，这表示它们将不会出现在资产负债表上。

 

Shareholders' Equity

股东权益

 

Shareholders' equity is the money attributable to a business' owners, meaning its shareholders. It is also known as "net assets," since it is equivalent to the total assets of a company minus its liabilities, that is, the debt it owes to non-shareholders.

股东权益指归属于企业所有者的权益，所有者即股东。股东权益也叫“净资产”，因为它等同于企业总资产减去总负债（即企业欠非股东的债务）。

 

Retained earnings are the net earnings a company either reinvests in the business or use to pay off debt; the rest is distributed to shareholders in the form of dividends.

留存收益指企业用于业务再投资或偿还债务的净收益；其余部分以股息的形式分配给股东。

 

Treasury stock is the stock a company has repurchased. It can be sold at a later date to raise cash or reserved to repel a hostile takeover.

库存股指企业回购的股份，可以在日后出售用以筹集资金或保留用以抵御恶意收购。

 

Some companies issue preferred stock, which will be listed separately from common stock under shareholders' equity. Preferred stock is assigned an arbitrary par value – as is common stock, in some cases – that has no bearing on the market value of the shares (often, par value is just $0.01). The "common stock" and "preferred stock" accounts are calculated by multiplying the par value by the number of shares issued.

一些企业也发行优先股，并将优先股和普通股分别列示于股东权益项下。优先股会被赋予任意面值（普通股在某些状况下亦如此），该等面值与股份的市场价值无关（通常，面值仅为0.01美元）。“普通股”和“优先股”科目的计算方法为每股面值乘以已发行的股份数。

 

Additional paid-in capital or capital surplus represents the amount shareholders have invested in excess of the "common stock" or "preferred stock" accounts, which are based on par value rather than market price. Shareholders' equity is not directly related to a company's market capitalization: the latter is based on the current price of a stock, while paid-in capital is the sum of the equity that has been purchased at any price.

附加资本或资本公积代表股东投资的超出“普通股”或“优先股”的金额，以面值而非市场价格为基准。股东权益与企业的市值没有直接关系，后者是以股票的当前价格为基础，而实收资本是以任意价格购买的股权的总和。

 

Example of a Balance Sheet

资产负债表示例

Exxon Balance Sheet example. Investopedia

Exxon资产负债表示例 Investopedia

 

Limitations of Balance Sheets

资产负债表的局限性 

 

The balance sheet is an invaluable piece of information for investors and analysts; however, it does have some drawbacks. Since it is just a snapshot in time, it can only use the difference between this point in time and another single point in time in the past. Because it is static, many financial ratios draw on data included in both the balance sheet and the more dynamic income statement and statement of cash flows to paint a fuller picture of what's going on with a company's business.

对于投资者和分析师而言，资产负债表属于非常宝贵的信息；然而，资产负债表也是存在一些缺陷的。由于资产负债表只代表某一时间点的信息，因此只能利用该时间点与过去的另一时间点的差额进行对比。且由于它是静态的，许多财务比率都会运用资产负债表和更为动态的利润表和现金流量表中的数据来更全面的反映企业的业务状况。

 

Different accounting systems and ways of dealing with depreciation and inventories will also change the figures posted to a balance sheet. Because of this, managers have some ability to game the numbers to look more favorable. Pay attention to the balance sheet's footnotes in order to determine which systems are being used in their accounting and to look out for red flags.

不同的会计制度和处理折旧和存货的方法也会使得资产负债表上的数字有所不同。正因为此，管理人才有能力进行数字博弈，使报表上的数字看起来更好看。记得关注资产负债表中的附注，确定企业使用了何种会计制度，并留意危险信号。