What does financial statement analysis involve?

Financial statement analysis is a vital process in understanding a company's financial health and performance. This analysis primarily involves reviewing and evaluating various financial statements, such as the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. By examining these documents, analysts gain insights into key financial metrics, trends, and ratios that reveal the company’s profitability, liquidity, efficiency, and solvency.

The focus of financial statement analysis is to assess past and current financial data to inform future decision-making, whether for investment, lending, or management purposes. It allows stakeholders—including investors, creditors, and management—to understand how well a company is performing financially and identify areas for improvement.

The other choices, while related to finance, do not accurately reflect the core of what financial statement analysis entails. Creating new financial policies involves strategic planning that goes beyond just looking at existing data. Forecasting future sales trends focuses on predicting revenue based on various inputs and is separate from the analysis of past financial performance. Providing tax planning strategies relates more to tax law and compliance rather than the assessment of financial statements.