Financial statements are a set of documents that describe the financial results of a public or private entity over a set period of time (such as the fiscal year).
In the public sector, there are five main types of statements:
- statement of financial position (balances of assets, liabilities and equity at year end)
- statement of operations
- statement of re-measurement gains and losses
- statement of cash flow
- statement of change in net debt
As well as the numbers, financial statements contain notes to explain certain numbers or concepts, or to provide additional information. Notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
Read our Understanding Canadian Public Sector Financial Statements guide. This guide is to help readers – specifically those who are not familiar with public sector financial statements – improve their ability to review and interpret government financial statements.