Ask most small business owners about their profit and loss statement and you’ll get at least a vague sense of recognition — it shows whether you made money, roughly, sure. Ask about the balance sheet and you’re more likely to get a blank look. It’s the report that gets generated, filed away, and never actually read. That’s a shame, because your balance sheet answers a question your P&L can’t: not how did you do this period, but what is your business actually worth right now.
