This course will focus on personal financial statements, a fundamental tool for personal financial planning.

We will include many example problems, both in the format of presentations and Excel worksheet problems. The Excel worksheet presentations will include a downloadable Excel workbook with at least two tabs, one with the answer, the second with a preformatted worksheet that can be completed in a step-by-step process along with the instructional videos.

Financial statements are the core tool we used to measure our current financial position as well as our past performance. The balance sheet and income statement are our major financial statements.

The balance sheet shows us where we stand as of a point in time. The income statement looks back for a period of time, usually a month or year, to measure performance, discerning how we got to this current position represented by the balance sheet.

Personal financial statements are similar to business financial statements but are less standardized. Personal financial statements are less standardized in part because there are fewer formal regulations restricting them and because our financial goals are different.

The primary financial goal for a business is revenue generation. However, our personal financial goals will include, but not be limited to, revenue generation, the revenue being a means to an end rather than an end in and of itself.

Learners will know how to construct financial statements and how the balance sheet and income statement are related.

Once we have our financial statements, which map out past performance and our current position, we can use them as a basis to look forward, creating a budget.

Learners well know how to construct a personal financial budget. We will also discuss common personal ratios used to measure performance.