What Are Pro Forma Financial Statements?

pro forma financial statements

Income statements would show how much it would cost a company to pursue the project and how much revenues might improve after completion. There can be a lot of problems if the company’s management decides https://www.bookstime.com/ to issue its pro forma statements to the general public. This is because they will contain many assumptions and hypothetical cases based on the management’s beliefs about future business conditions.

  • The balance sheet will project changes in your business accounts over time.
  • GAAP. Foreign private issuers should prepare their pro formas in accordance with U.S.
  • If taxable net income will be greater than the cash available for distribution per unit, this should be disclosed.
  • These are often intended to be preliminary or illustrative financials that do not follow standard accounting practices.
  • If this additional EPS is shown on the face of the pro forma statement of comprehensive income, it should be labeled appropriately.
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Example pro forma balance sheet

While GAAP standards set guidelines on reporting information accurately and transparently, sometimes it’s useful to include or exclude information. In particular, you might want to know how an anticipated change may affect a company’s earnings. For example, if an energy company is planning to build a new power plant, investors may wonder how that project will affect the company’s profits. While pro forma often refers to assumptions about future events, it can also refer to financial reports with irregular transactions removed. For example, if a company experienced significant restructuring charges in a given period, a pro forma might show how the company would have performed if those charges never occurred. A pro forma cash flow statement for a company would tell the management as to what will happen to the cash inflows and outflows if a certain deal or decision is taken.

  • For example, you might create pro forma financial statements to reflect the outcomes of three investment scenarios for your business.
  • Taking an online course like Financial Accounting can help you understand how to create and interpret different kinds of financial statements so you can find meaning in them.
  • The number of shares to be added to the denominator for purposes of pro forma per share data should not exceed the total number of shares to be issued in the offering.
  • Since pro forma statements deal with potential outcomes, they’re not considered GAAP compliant.
  • They take out one-time or unusual costs to offer a fuller picture of the business’s operating profit.
  • The next time you consider taking on new debt, create pro forma statements to see the impact on future income.In accounting, pro forma refers to financial reports based on assumptions and hypothetical situations, not reality.

Simply put, pro forma financial statements are financial reports that are created on hypothetical assumptions. For example, in creating a pro forma income statement, you would need to forecast revenue for future periods. This can be done by analyzing past sales, orders for products or services in the current period or any backlog orders yet to be fulfilled. A realistic revenue amount can then be forecasted and used in a pro forma income statement.

How To Create a Pro Forma Income Statement

Other transactions appropriate for inclusion in a pro forma presentation should be accumulated in a separate column. Otherwise, if consummation of more than one transaction has occurred or is probable, pro forma information may be presented on either a combined or separate basis. If combined, footnote explanation should disaggregate the various transactions in a reasonable fashion. Pro forma adjustments should be computed assuming the transaction was consummated on the date of the latest balance sheet included in the filing.

The same holds true for the process of preparing income statements and cash flow statements. It differs when you begin forecasting various line items and calculating how those projections impact your bottom line. One of the most important uses of pro forma reports is related to decision-making and strategic planning efforts. For example, you might create pro forma financial statements to reflect the outcomes of three investment scenarios for your business. Doing so can allow you to conduct a side-by-side comparison of possible outcomes to determine which is favorable and guide your planning process.

Financial Tips

If a pro forma statement of comprehensive income is presented, management should limit it to information that is reliably determinable and not include forward-looking information within the pro forma statement of comprehensive income. Management also should disclose how the pro forma statement of comprehensive income is not indicative of operations going forward because it necessarily excludes various operating expenses. If factually supportable, certain adjustments may demonstrate the effects of the changes in operations that may have affected historical revenues or operating expenses had they been implemented at the beginning of the historical period. [Instruction 4 to S-X Article 11] See Section 2065 for guidance about form and content of carve out financial statements. The limitations of the pro forma information should be explained clearly. Pro forma statements help business owners play out the future outcome of their decisions. The next time you consider taking on new debt, create pro forma statements to see the impact on future income.In accounting, pro forma refers to financial reports based on assumptions and hypothetical situations, not reality.

What is the purpose of a pro forma statement?

The purpose of a pro forma statement is to help management in making informed decisions about certain events or transactions. It allows them to see the possible outcomes of a particular decision and how it will impact the company’s profitability, financial position, and cash flow.

If you own a business or manage the finances of an organization, you would often think of different possible outcomes for revenue, capital costs, investments, or profits based on certain assumptions. While actual financial statements show how a business has performed in the past, pro forma financial statements project how a business will perform using hypothetical scenarios.