Glossary
Balance sheet
The balance sheet is a snapshot. Where the income statement covers a period, the balance sheet shows the position on one date: what the business owns (assets) and who financed it (equity and liabilities). The two sides are always equal. In Danish it is simply the balance.
Updated 21 October 2026
What is a balance sheet?
Assets are bank deposits, receivables from customers, stock, fixtures and other fixed assets. The other side is equity, the owners' share, and the liabilities: debt to suppliers, VAT owed and loans. If a company has 84,000 kr. in the bank and 36,000 kr. owed by customers, its assets are 120,000 kr.; if it owes 20,000 kr. to suppliers and 15,000 kr. in VAT, its equity is 85,000 kr.
The balance sheet balances because every entry hits two accounts: an invoice increases both receivables and revenue, and the revenue ends up in equity through the year's result. Balance sheet accounts are not closed at the turn of the year; the year's closing balance is next year's opening balance.
Balance sheet in Veneti
In Veneti the balance sheet sits under Reporting with assets and liabilities. Every figure is a balance, the Opening/Closing switch shows the start of the period beside its end, and every figure opens to the opening balance and the period's entries. Debtors, Creditors and Bank are recognised by their role in the chart of accounts, and the bank account's balance is held against the bank's own.
The annual report shows the same balance sheet in the Danish Business Authority's form, with assets and liabilities as Regnskab Basis lays them out. The accounts behind it: Guide to the chart of accounts.
Related terms
- Income statement: the period's earnings, which end up in equity.
- Opening and closing balance: the balance sheet at the start and the end.
- Fixed asset: the assets used over several years.