After years as a financial planner, I know my first question sparks fear, dread, and confusion — and that's on purpose

A balance sheet includes things like your liabilities and assets, and your income statement tells me how much money you have coming in and going out.
Most people never create these documents for themselves, but they can go a long way to shaping your financial future by giving you (and your financial planner) a jumping-off point.
A financial planner can help your set money goals and reach them. Use SmartAsset's free tool to connect with a qualified professional

As a financial planner , there's one question I always ask when meeting with a new client: Do you have financial statements? And by that I mean a personal balance sheet and income statement.

You can imagine the equal parts fear, dread, and confusion this one simple question invokes, and that is the point. I want potential and/or new clients to realize up front that this process is going to be difficult, time-consuming, and sometimes a bit intrusive.

The payoff, though, if they are willing to hang in, will be exponentially greater than the time they sacrificed or the discomfort they were forced to endure.

Of course, I am not just asking this question to torture potential clients. Financial statements are vital: They explain where an entity or individual currently stands and how they behaved over a given time period.

There are two financial statements we all need and that should be updated on an annual basis, or as needed, like if you hit the lottery or recently got married.

The first financial statement is a balance sheet, also called the statement of financial position, which lists your assets, liabilities, and net worth . The second is your income statement, which lists all of your income minus expenses.

Talk to a financial planner about your spending, saving, and investments. Use SmartAsset's free tool to find a qualified professional near you

What to put on your balance sheet

The balance sheet is a snapshot of where you stand when the statement is created think of it as the You Are Here mark on a map.

Within each category on the balance sheet there are subcategories. Under assets, we have current assets, which includes cash, money market accounts , savings accounts , checking accounts; really any asset you can quickly liquidate without surrendering any of the asset's value. Sorry to those crypto-currency lovers, but this would eliminate Bitcoin and other cryptos because of the second-to-second price fluctuations.

Next, we have investment assets. This includes any asset that you plan to utilize to achieve your financial goals, such as your 401(k), IRA , brokerage account , real estate investment properties, and businesses.

Finally, we have personal-use assets, which includes assets you don't plan on using for your financial goals, including personal residences, cars, and clothing. If you are a wine collector but you drink all your wine, you shouldn't include your "collection" in investment assets, that should be a personal-use asset.

Our next major category is liabilities, including current and long-term liabilities. Current liabilities would be debt due within a year this is where all of your credit card debt should be listed, along with other debts like overdue utility bills and tax liens.

Long-term liabilities would include debts that will be paid off over a greater than one-year period, like car loans, student loans, and mortgages.

The final category is net worth, which is your assets minus your liabilities. For younger people, or people just beginning to focus on their personal finances, this may be negative. That is OK. The goal is that over time, with good planning, saving, and investing, this number becomes positive.

What to include in your income statement

Next up we have the income statement, also known as the statement of cash flows. This is going to list all of your income minus your expenditures.

Your income will include your salary, bonuses, alimony, dividends, and interest, but shouldn't include variable random cash inflows like gifts.

The first expenditure you should list is savings. The adage of "pay yourself first" is as effective a strategy as can be found in personal finance.

The remaining expenses should be separated into non-discretionary versus discretionary expenses. Non-discretionary would be those expenses that we simply can't choose not to pay, including mortgages, car payments, property taxes, and utilities. This category includes, too, any debts that wouldn't be forgiven in bankruptcy, like student loans, and secured debts that would cost you the asset you put up as collateral if you didn't pay the debt.

Discretionary expenses are those that could be eliminated in the event of a financial emergency. The definitions of these differ across clients; some clients believe charitable contributions are discretionary, while Grubhub, Netflix, and country club dues are non-discretionary, and others would be horrified by that thought.

However you categorize your spending, you should have more income than you do expenditures after accounting for savings. The extra income will be used to achieve your financial goals, whether that is saving for retirement, a vacation home, or paying off student loans or credit cards.

The bottom line

In very general and simplistic terms, achieving any level of financial success can be broken down based on these two financial statements. Save more than you spend evidenced by a positive cash flow on your income statement and use those funds to pay down debt and to purchase assets that appreciate and/or will produce income.

Your balance sheet will eventually be dominated by assets, which will result in a very positive net worth.

Without knowing where you stand, it is impossible to know what actions you need to take to get to where you want to go. Not having financial statements is the equivalent of hopping in a car and attempting to drive to an unknown destination without using a navigation system. So, do you have financial statements?

Want to connect with a financial planner and reach your money goals? Use SmartAssets free tool to find a qualified professional near you

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After years as a financial planner, I know my first question sparks fear, dread, and confusion — and that's on purpose

What to put on your balance sheet

What to include in your income statement

The bottom line

Want to connect with a financial planner and reach your money goals? Use SmartAssets free tool to find a qualified professional near you

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