Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity.
Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to understand. They typically include four basic financial statements accompanied by a management discussion and analysis:
A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many jurisdictions require company financial reports to be prepared and published on an annual basis but generally with the reporting period not aligning with the calendar year (1 January to 31 December). Taxation laws generally require accounting records to be maintained and taxes calculated on an annual basis, which usually corresponds to the fiscal year used for government purposes. The calculation of tax on an annual basis is especially relevant for direct taxes, such as income tax. Many annual government fees—such as council tax and license fees—are also levied on a fiscal year basis, but others are charged on an anniversary basis.
Some companies, such as Cisco Systems, end their fiscal year on the same day of the week each year: the day that is closest to a particular date (for example, the Friday closest to 31 December). Under such a system, some fiscal years have 52 weeks and others 53 weeks.
Yahoo Finance is a media property that is part of the Yahoo network. It provides financial news, data and commentary including stock quotes, press releases, financial reports, and original content. It also offers online tools for personal finance management, including portfolio tracking, interactive charts, and stock screening. In addition to posting paid partner content from other web sites, it posts original stories by its team of staff journalists. Comscore ranked Yahoo Finance as the number 1 most popular financial news and research site in 2008, a ranking it has continued to maintain as of May 2024. As of April 2024, the site had approximately 150 million monthly active users.
In 2017, Yahoo Finance added the feature to look at news surrounding cryptocurrency.