18 Aug
The financial statements reflect the financial and patrimonial situations and
performance of the company. They thus make it possible to inform the company's
managers but also the latter's partners (banks, industrial partners, customers, suppliers,
etc.) or third parties (potential investor, pension fund, State, etc.).
The financial statements of a company must make it possible to summarize precise
analyses of its profitability and solvency but also to make chronological (from one year
to the next) or competitive (financial statements of companies) comparisons of the
same sector of activity compared with each other).
The financial statements of the company, in the accounting and legal sense of the term, are broken down in four distinct states:
- The balance sheet : it describes the situation of the company's assets, it is a photo at the moment "T" of it. It presents separately what the company owns (assets) on the one hand and how it was able to finance the acquisition of its assets (liabilities: capital made available by shareholders, debts and loans, supplier debts, etc.)
- The income statement : it corresponds to the film of the annual activities of the company. It shows the income (income) and expenses (expenses) of the enterprise, according to a classification by nature (operation, finance, excluding ordinary activities). The income statement presents aggregates called "management interim balances" such as "value added or "gross operating surplus " which make it possible to assess the Business performance
- The Cash Flow Statement : : It traces all the cash movements of the company during a year. It thus shows the net cash at the beginning of the year, the cash flows from the various operating, investment and financing activities of the company.
- The Notes : contain additional and more detailed information on the items contained in the Balance Sheet, income statement and cash flow statement.
The interest of the financial statements is that they make it possible to make a financial analysis and to have a clear idea not only of the performance of the company but also of its ability to finance its activity and to repay any credits. It's a bit like the company's financial identity card. It is therefore essential that the manager knows what the company's financial statements reflect. We strongly recommend that executives regularly analyze or have these financial statements analyzed so that they can better make the right strategic and financial decisions for their business.
Obligations
In principle, all companies, with a few exceptions, are required to draw up financial
statements, regardless of their activity (trade, industry, etc.) or their nature (craft,
commercial, liberal, etc.).
In Senegal, companies with a turnover of more than FCFA.30 million are required to have these financial statements endorsed by a chartered accountant before having them filed with the tax authorities.
The deadline for filing financial statements in Senegal is 30 April of
each year.
In addition to this obligation, some companies are required to file these financial statements with the registry of their commercial court . These annual accounts filings concern SA, SARL, SASU, SAS, SNC, or SCS whose all partners are SARL. For civil partnerships as well as for sole proprietorships, this obligation to file annual accounts does not exist. Although the companies concerned can now request the confidentiality of these deposits, the general rule is that the filing of these financial statements of the company is published and made public.
However, this practice is not systematic at company level.
For a good management of its activity, it is important to set in its performance indicators the key aggregates included in the financial statements and to regularly carry out their financial analysis. It is a powerful decision support tool.
