Usefulness of reporting of small entities for verification of their financial standing

Abstract

The amended Accounting Act in force since 2015 introduced a possibility for micro and small businesses to use simplifications. Unfortunately, in the opinion of their recipients, these simplifications have limited the ability to infer the financial standing of these firms on their basis. There is an important information gap concerning transactions effected with the owners being also managers. It is the owner who is a fundamental qualitative feature of micro and small enterprises, therefore, settlements with the owners are of critical significance for the assessment of the financial standing of a firm. Supplementing reports with the owner’s data and transactions with him would enhance their informative quality. The author conducted a ratio analysis and a horizontal analysis of the balance sheet and the profit and loss account in the full version and the simplified version of a selected micro-enterprise managed by the owner. The study showed the weaknesses of inferring the situation of the company based on the simplified statement. The necessity to extend the balance sheet information with the data on the type and value of transactions with the managing owner should be considered. It seems that the introduction of the position in the current assets of the balance sheet would enable more comprehensive preliminary assessment of the financial standing of an entity.