balance sheet

American  

noun

Accounting.

• balance sheets
  plural

1. a tabular statement of both sides of a set of accounts in which the debit and credit balances add up as equal.

2. a statement of the financial position of a business on a specified date.

---

balance sheet British  

noun

1. a statement that shows the financial position of a business enterprise at a specified date by listing the asset balances and the claims on such assets

---

balance sheet Cultural  

1. An orderly account of the assets of a company or individual and of the financial claims on those assets by others.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• balance sheets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of balance sheet

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

balance sheet

The German car maker has an impeccable balance sheet and a great new electric-vehicle platform.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

Now comes the moment for new arrivals to make their mark on the pitch rather than the balance sheet.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

SB Energy said the Ports-Pike campus alone could require more than $6 billion in credit support, which could be in the form of letters of credit that are not reflected in its current balance sheet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Earlier this month, the global casino operator gave investors a big scare about whether its heavily leveraged balance sheet could support major developments in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

But even when all these are added in, "two-thirds of the universe is still missing from the balance sheet," as one commentator has put it.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson