A balance sheet is a statement of the total assets and liabilities of an organisation at a particular date- usually the last date of an accounting period.
The balance sheet is split into two parts:
(1) A statement of fixed assets, current assets and the liabilities (sometimes referred to as "Net Assets")
(2) A statement showing how the Net Assets have been financed, for example through share capital and retained profits.
The Companies Act requires the balance sheet to be included in the published financial accounts of all limited companies. In reality, all other organisations that need to prepare accounting information for external users (e.g. charities, clubs, partnerships) will also product a
