Balance sheet

Also called the statement of financial condition, it is a summary of the assets, liabilities, and owners' equity. The New York Times Financial Glossary

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balance sheet ˈbalance ˌsheet noun [countable] ACCOUNTING

a document showing a company's financial position and wealth at a particular time, often the last day of its financial year:

• The company performed well last year, and has a healthy balance sheet with a good amount of cash.

• a strong balance sheet

• a clean balance sheet (= without debt or without too much debt )

ˈoff-balance ˌsheet adjective [only before a noun] ACCOUNTING

off-balance sheet items, activities, debts etc are ones that a company does not need to show on its balance sheet, but in notes added to it:

• The leasing company said a Chinese airline has signed for an aircraft operating lease - a relatively short-term, off-balance sheet rental.

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   An accounting statement of a company's assets and liabilities, provided for the benefit of shareholders and regulators. It gives a snapshot, at a specific point of time, of the assets that the company holds and how the assets have been financed.

   ► See also Assets, Liabilities.

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balance sheet UK US noun [C]

► ACCOUNTING a financial statement that shows a company's assets and debts at a particular time: healthy/strong/weak balance sheet »

He points out that the company has the strongest balance sheet among all the farm-machinery giants.

→ See also OFF-BALANCE-SHEET(Cf. ↑off-balance-sheet)