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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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 )
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.
Financial and business terms. 2012.