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The Global Insight

What is the importance of analyzing our financial statements?

Author

James Olson

Updated on February 09, 2026

It provides internal and external stakeholders with the opportunity to make informed decisions regarding investing. Financial statement analysis also provides lending institutions with an unbiased view of a business’s financial health, which is helpful for making lending decisions.

Who are the users of financial statement analysis?

Examples of internal users are owners, managers, and employees. External users are people outside the business entity (organization) who use accounting information. Examples of external users are suppliers, banks, customers, investors, potential investors, and tax authorities.

Which is an example of a financial analysis template?

Image: Example financial analysis template. Income Statement The Income Statement is one of a company’s core financial statements that shows their profit and loss over a period of time. The profit or .

Which is the best way to analyze a financial statement?

In this free guide, we will break down the most important methods, types, and approaches to financial analysis. This guide is designed to be useful for both beginners and advanced finance professionals, with the main topics covering: (1) income statement, (2) balance sheet, (3) cash flow, and (4) rates of return.

How to do Horizontal analysis of financial statements?

With horizontal analysis, we look across the income statement at the year-over-year (YoY) change in each line item. In order to perform this exercise, you need to take the value in Period N and divide it by the value in Period N-1 and then subtract 1 from that number to get the percent change.

How are financial statements used in financial modeling?

These statements are key to both financial modeling and accounting. The balance sheet displays the company’s total assets, and how these assets are financed, through either debt or equity. Assets = Liabilities + Equity . In this section of financial statement analysis, we will evaluate the operational efficiency of the business.