Balance Sheet (Byte Size) Course You are probably familiar with the accounting term 'balance sheet'. However, relatively few of you will probably really understand what a balance sheet really is or what it purports to show. In this course we shall see that the balance sheet aims to provide a statement of financial position by setting out the resources of the business, on the one h&, & the claims against those resources, on the other. The information contained within the balance sheet can be presented in various forms & in this course we shall consider the main forms of presentation. In drawing up a balance sheet, we employ a number of accounting rules or conventions. We consider these in some detail & discuss their limitations. By the end of this course, you should be able to: explain the nature & purpose of a balance sheet define the terms asset, liability & capital explain the typical form & content of a balance sheet discuss the major conventions that underpin the balance sheet explain why a balance sheet on its own does not provide an adequate record of events