Define the purpose and scope
When turning financial statements into a presentation, first identify the question your audience is trying to answer. The management team may want to examine changes between periods, the project team may want to compare budget with actuals, and investors may want to review the company’s financial position. These are possible presentation objectives; choose the scope of each presentation based on the audience’s actual needs. Then highlight the data that supports that objective.
A presentation does not replace the source financial statements or audit report. If not all the details can be read on the main slides, consider keeping the relevant tables in the appendix; when narrowing the scope, do not omit items or required disclosures that would change the meaning.
Prepare the source file and data
Identify the correct versions of the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement you will use. The reporting period and comparison period, currency, scale (e.g., TL or thousand TL), and definitions of line items should be clear throughout the presentation. Do not silently treat different periods or units as if they were the same.
Note which row or line item in the source statements each important slide figure comes from. If you make calculations in a working file, check the range of rows you used and the subtotals. Distinguish finalized data from estimates or values that have not yet been verified; if the status of the data affects the presentation’s message, say so. Also check confidentiality and permission to share according to the relevant organization’s rules.
Separate the questions each statement answers
The three core statements offer different views. NYU Stern’s explanation of financial statements describes the balance sheet as summarizing what a company owns and owes on a specific date; the income statement as reporting earnings over a period; and the cash flow statement as showing cash inflows and outflows during a period.
Preserve this distinction in your presentation: do not present profit for a period as if it were the same as an increase in cash, and do not present a balance sheet for a single date as a summary of operating performance over a period. When discussing cash movements, follow the classifications in the cash flow statement. The NYU Stern source addresses cash flows from operating, investing, and financing activities under separate headings.
Reporting scope may depend on the type of organization and applicable requirements. For example, the University of San Diego’s financial fundamentals document lists six elements for audited financial statements: the audit report, financial position, activities, cash flows, functional expenses, and notes. Do not treat this example as a rule that applies to every organization; verify the requirements for your own report with the relevant source.
Build the slide order around the logic of the data
For a short presentation, the following order may work; you do not have to include sections that do not serve the presentation’s purpose:
- Summary: The period, scope, and main result the audience needs to know.
- Revenue and expenses: Differences against an appropriate comparison period or budget.
- Balance sheet view: Relevant asset and liability items, and the balance sheet date.
- Cash flow: Cash movements by the activity groups in the source statement.
- Explanation and follow-up: Verified explanations, data limitations, and open questions.
Giving each slide one main message can improve readability. Instead of limiting the title to the name of the table, state what the data actually shows. For example, use “Sales revenue increased compared with the previous period” only if the periods and figures support that statement. If the data does not show why a change occurred, do not imply causation in the title.
Example: a quarterly presentation for a fictional company
The figures below are entirely hypothetical and are provided for example purposes only. Suppose Example Inc. had first-quarter revenue of 10 million TL and expenses of 8 million TL, and previous-quarter revenue of 9 million TL and expenses of 7.5 million TL. The first slide’s message could be “Revenue and expenses increased compared with the previous quarter.” If you use a chart comparing revenue and expenses for the two periods, label the periods and the “million TL” unit on the chart.
On the second slide, show that in this example the arithmetic difference between revenue and expenses was 1.5 million TL in the previous quarter and 2 million TL in the first quarter. Do not call this difference profit or net income without verifying the definitions of the source statement’s line items. Check whether the scope of the line items is consistent across the two periods being compared.
On the next slide, summarize operating, investing, and financing activities from the cash flow statement, retaining the source statement’s own classifications. Do not derive cash movements from revenue or profit figures in the income statement; take the relevant figure from the cash flow statement. If the data does not explain why expenses increased, present this as a question to follow up on, not as a verified conclusion.
Show the period and unit of measure in charts
Choose an appropriate chart to show changes over time or differences between categories; let the data and message guide the choice. Clearly label the periods, category names, currency, and scale. “12” alone is not clear: do not leave it to the reader to guess whether it means 12 TL, 12 thousand TL, or 12 percent.
Show negative values, zeros, and missing data in distinguishable ways; do not present a missing period as zero. If you use percentage change, explain the comparison base and the method used in the calculation. When the base is zero or negative, a standard percentage comparison may not be meaningful; consider giving the absolute difference or explaining the limitation.
Verification and final review
If totals do not match the source: Check the period selection, row scope, filters, and rounding. If you cannot explain the difference, do not publish the figure on the slide as verified.
If the chart overstates the message: Review the axis scale, date range, and comparison periods. Revise the title and explanation to reflect the conclusion the data actually supports.
If statements conflict: Compare period, unit, classification, and revision information. Do not combine the figures into a single result before resolving the conflict; state which information has not been verified.
In the final review, trace every important figure back to the source statement; verify subtotals, signs, periods, and units. Check that chart labels match the values and that required disclosures are readable. Open the exported presentation file and check that charts and labels have not been cut off.
Frequently asked questions
Should I include all the financial statements in the presentation?
Consider highlighting the items needed for the audience’s purpose in the main presentation and, where appropriate, putting the details in the appendix. This choice does not change the organization’s reporting obligations. Before narrowing the scope, verify the applicable requirements and required disclosures.
Which statement should I start the presentation with?
Decide based on the audience’s question: the balance sheet may be a starting point for the financial position on a specific date, the income statement for revenue and expenses during a period, and the cash flow statement for cash inflows and outflows. These statements answer different questions, so do not use one in place of another.
Final checklist
- Are the period, currency, scale, and comparison base specified?
- Does each important figure match the source statement and its calculation?
- Are the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow correctly distinguished from one another?
- Are the chart title and message within the limits of what the data supports?
- Are unverified explanations identified as open questions rather than conclusions?
- Are labels and charts readable in the exported file?
Related practical guides
You can explore the relevant step in this work in more detail with the guide to preparing a presentation for an operations manager interview. You can explore the relevant step in this work in more detail with the guide to preparing a quality assurance presentation.
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