Question

What are limitations of financial statements?

Answer 1

The limitations of the financial statements are as follows:

1. Historical Data- The items recorded in the financial statements reflect their original cost i.e. the cost at which they were acquired. Consequently, financial statements do not reveal the current market price of the items. Further, financial statements fail to capture the inflation effects. Thus, it can be concluded that financial statements reflect the data and information of historical nature.
2. Ignorance of Qualitative Aspects- Financial statements do not reveal the qualitative aspects of a transaction. The qualitative aspects such as colour, size and brand position in the market, employees’ qualities and capabilities are not disclosed by the financial statements. These statements record only those transactions that are quantitative in nature and can be expressed in the monetary terms.
3. Biased- Financial statements are based on the personal judgments regarding the use of methods of recording. For example, the choice of practice in the valuation of inventory, method of depreciation, amount of provisions, etc. are based on the personal value judgments, which may differ from person to person. Thus, the financial statements reflect the personal value judgments of the concerned accountants and experts.
4. Inter-firm Comparison- Usually, it is difficult to compare the financial statements of two companies (either in the same business or in different businesses). This is basically because of the difference in the methods and practices followed by them in preparing their respective financial statements.
5. Window Dressing- The possibility of window dressing is highly probable. This might be because of the motive of the company to overstate or understate its assets and liabilities to attract more investors or to reduce taxable profit. For example, Satyam showed high fixed deposits in the Assets side of its Balance Sheet for better liquidity that gave false and misleading signals to the investors.
6. Difficulty in Forecasting- Since the financial statements is based on the historical data, so they fail to reflect the effect of inflation. This drawback makes the forecasting difficult.