“Year-end financial statements express a truth about office life which is no less irrefutable yet also, in the end, no less irrelevant or irritating than an evolutionary biologist's proud reminder that the purpose of existence lies in the propagation of our genes.” YearsEndsLyingPurposeExistenceProudOfficeFinancialStatementsGenesIrrelevantRemindersIrritatingBiologistPropagationYear EndFinancial Statements Author:Alain de Botton
“You get in a lot of trouble when you start putting fictitious numbers on value. I think to just say, we're going to say a dollar of cash is worth $2 all of a sudden, it isn't worth $2. It's worth a dollar today. And I think once you start putting phony figures into financial statements, you get in a lot of trouble.” ThinkingTodayValuesNumbersTroubleFiguresDollarsFinancialStatementsCashPhonyFinancial Statements Author:Howard Warren Buffett
“I call it the Rule of Three. If you read a company's financial statements three times, and you still can't figure out how they make their money, that's usually for a reason.” IfsStillsReasonThreeCompanyFiguresFinancialStatementsThree TimesFinancial Statements Author:James Chanos
“Since those don’t hit financial reports, the opportunities you had but didn’t accept, most people don’t bother thinking about them very much. At least that is a mistake we don’t make. We rub our own noses in our mistakes in blowing opportunities, as we just did.” PeoplePayAttentionMistakeFinancialStatementsPay AttentionNosesOmissionFinancial Statements Author:Charlie Munger
“After nearly making a terrible mistake not buying See's, we've made this mistake many times. We are apparently slow learners. These opportunity costs don't show up on financial statements, but have cost us many billions.” MadeShowsOpportunityMistakeTerribleCostFinancialBillionsStatementsBuyingLearnersOpportunity CostFinancial Statements Author:Charlie Munger
“I think once you start putting phony figures into financial statements, you get in a lot of trouble. And we've seen so much of that in the last 20 years.” ThinkingYearsLastsTroubleFiguresFinancialStatementsPhonyFinancial Statements Author:Warren Buffett
“When you are in the final days of your life, what will you want? Will you hug that college degree in the walnut frame? Will you ask to be carried to the garage so you can sit in your car? Will you find comfort in rereading your financial statement? Of course not. What will matter then will be people. If relationships will matter most then, shouldn't they matter most now?” PeopleIfsWantInspirationalMatterCoursesAsksCarCollegeComfortDegreesFinalsFinancialStatementsHugGarageCollege DegreeRereadingWalnutsFinancial Statements Book:A Love Worth Giving: Living in the Overflow of God's Love Source: A Love Worth Giving: Living in the Overflow of God's Love
“You have more independent eyes scrutinizing the decision-making and financial statements of companies.” EyeDecisionCompanyIndependentFinancialStatementsDecision MakingIndependent WomenFinancial Statements Author:Steve Odland
“You have to understand accounting and you have to understand the nuances of accounting. It's the language of business and it's an imperfect language, but unless you are willing to put in the effort to learn accounting - how to read and interpret financial statements - you really shouldn't select stocks yourself” LanguageEffortWillingFinancialStatementsImperfectSelectAccountingNuanceFinancial Statements Author:Warren Buffett
“Mandatory auditor rotation is designed to address a potential conflict of interest between a public company and its auditor. Because an auditor is hired and paid by the public company it audits, the auditor's desire to maintain a good relationship with its client could conflict with its duty to rigorously question the client's financial statements.” DesireInterestCompanyRelationshipDutyConflictPaidFinancialStatementsAddressesClientsGood RelationshipRotationConflict Of InterestAuditorsFinancial Statements Author:Robert Pozen