RBQ glossary: letter F

Financial statements (états financiers)

The set of accounting documents that summarize a business’s position and results for a period: the balance sheet, the income statement and the cash flow statement, with notes. Lenders, investors and managers use them to judge the business’s financial health. The Administration exam expects you to read them and compute ratios from them.

See also: Balance sheet (bilan), Income statement (état des résultats), Working capital (fonds de roulement), Debt ratio (ratio d’endettement)

Administration examSource: RBQ, Administration competency profile, element 1 (French)

Forecast budget (budget prévisionnel)

A costed forecast of revenues, expenses and cash needs for a coming period, often the year. The Administration exam profile distinguishes the operating budget, the cash budget (money in and out month by month), the forecast income statement and the forecast balance sheet. The budget is then compared with actual results to adjust course.

See also: Budget variance (écart budgétaire), Income statement (état des résultats), Business plan (plan d’affaires)

Administration examSource: RBQ, Administration competency profile, element 6 (French)

Definitions written by RBQexam from the statutes and the RBQ’s pages, without reproducing their text. If in doubt, the official source prevails.