Cash is an asset, which means it is included in a business's balance sheet . Since cash is highly liquid and can be used immediately to settle a business's debts, it is included in the current asset section of the balance sheet. Cash is reported on the balance sheet at its current monetary, or fair, value to accurately reflect the entity's value on the statement. .
Sample Balance Sheet in Chinese
A sample balance sheet in Chinese. Cash and cash equivalents are reported on the balance sheet.
Balance Sheet
Cash is reported on a company's balance sheet.
General Ledger
A company's general ledger may have several accounts detailing how much cash it has. For example, it might have one account for petty cash, another for how much cash it has in one bank account, and another detailing how much money it has invested in a CD that will mature in less than three months. When the company's cash balance is reported on its balance sheet, all of those accounts are combined into one "cash" line item.
Footnotes in Financial Statements
While the balance sheet may combine all cash and cash equivalents into one number, a business can provide further detail about its cash balance in the footnotes to the financial statements. These disclosures come after the financial reports are presented and can be used to explain specific items of financial activity. With regards to cash, the footnotes can explain how much of the cash balance was composed of actual currency and how much was cash equivalents.
Balance Sheet
A balance sheet is different from other financial statements because it describes a specific moment in time while the other statements describe activity over a period of time. As a result, the cash value on the balance sheet will only be accurate as of the end of the business on the date listed on the statement. When you receive a balance sheet, the current balance of cash might be very different from what is reported on the statement.