What makes financial statements convenient is the standardization. Most balance sheets list cash, accounts receivable, PPE, and so on. This certainly helps with quick analysis. Then again, the standardization can hide significant assets, such as patents, customer lists, brand, and reputation. It is important to always keep in mind that financial statement analysis is much more than reading numbers; it is also about going beyond the numbers and trying to get a sense of the real company.

In the next chapter, I give you a look at the right-hand side of the balance sheet, which includes the debts and equity, the essential ingredients that finance the assets of a company.