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balance sheet

balance sheet

44 3.7
A document that shows what a company owns, what it owes, and its value on a date
  • noun
  • /ˈbæl.əns ʃiːt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : balance
  • Banks have to hold the debt of these firms on their balance sheets for extended periods of time.
  • income statements and balance sheets
  • income statement and balance sheet
  • balance sheet (BS)

Now don't get me wrong, the company's balance sheet is strong, very strong.

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Examples

  • Financial data on the firm must include balance sheets, income statements, and statements of cash flow.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Far more relevant is the balance sheet, which shows assets and liabilities.

    Academic text (2005)
  • But when you do the balance sheet, what do you think?

  • We'll work out the balance sheet later.

  • Look at the balance sheet.

  • The debt shows as an asset on our balance sheet.

  • And they have a good balance sheet because that means stability.

  • Now, all of these parts of the balance sheet should be about utility.

  • Now don't get me wrong, the company's balance sheet is strong, very strong.

  • The accountant prepared the balance sheet to summarize the company's financial position at the end of the fiscal year.

Surface Forms

balance sheet singular

Morphology

balance + sheet

The compound is directly compositional: 'balance' (a financial amount or position) combined with 'sheet' (a piece of paper/document) yields a document listing balances or financial positions. This makes the general sense of a financial statement understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents, even if they lack technical accounting detail.

Etymology

Balance sheet comes from old bookkeeping. It was a sheet of paper that showed two lists, what a company owned and what it owed, and the totals had to balance. So today balance sheet means 'a statement that shows what a company owns and owes at a particular date'.