← All lessons🌐 Tiếng Việt
Level 4 · ages 16–18OECD RRInvest

Reading basic financial statements

🎯 Goal: Know what the three statements say and where to look for business health.
Three core statements: the income statement (revenue − costs = profit, over a period); the balance sheet (assets = liabilities + equity, at a point in time); the cash flow statement (real cash in/out). Paper profit can look great, but cash flow shows whether the business truly "produces money".

Let’s explore

📈
Income statement: shows profit/loss over a period (revenue minus costs).
⚖️
Balance sheet: a snapshot — Assets = Liabilities + Equity. Too much debt is a risk signal.
💧
Cash flow statement: real cash in/out. A "profitable" firm with long negative cash flow can be in danger.

Practice activity

🧮 Assets 100B, liabilities 60B. What is equity?
Worked example: Equity = Assets − Liabilities = 100 − 60 = 40B. Debt/assets = 60% — fairly high; check whether cash flow covers interest.

Quick quiz

1. Which statement shows profit/loss over a period?
→ Income statement
2. The balance-sheet identity?
→ Assets = Liabilities + Equity
3. Assets 80B, liabilities 50B. Equity?
→ 30B
4. Why does cash flow matter even with profit?
→ Paper profit may not be real cash yet
5. Too much debt vs assets is?
→ A risk signal

🎯 Real-life mission

Find a company's financial statements (on its website or the exchange). Point out 3 numbers: revenue, profit, and total debt. Write 1 sentence on the company's financial health.
Open the interactive app →

‹ Price ≠ Value & margin of safety · Valuing a startup with no profit yet ›

Rùa Vàng — Financial education for Vietnamese children · Aligned with OECD/INFE
Free for non-profit education (CC BY-NC 4.0). Not affiliated with OECD.
© 2026 Dong Nguyen · dong@dong.vc