How to pick apart a balance sheet in five minutes

Company accounts can be baffling even to an experienced investor. In the final part of Bengt Saelensminde's three part company analysis, he demonstrates how to pick apart a balance sheet in just five minutes, revealing key areas to look for when considering an investment.

Over the last couple of weeks I've run through my crash course in analysing companies - using the five-year summary and analysts summary, you can click on the links here and here for a reminder.

Today I'm going to finish this three part series by showing you an easy way to tackle balance sheets - even if you don't know anything about accounts.

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Bengt graduated from Reading University in 1994 and followed up with a master's degree in business economics.

 

He started stock market investing at the age of 13, and this eventually led to a job in the City of London in 1995. He started on a bond desk at Cantor Fitzgerald and ended up running a desk at stockbroker's Cazenove.

 

Bengt left the City in 2000 to start up his own import and beauty products business which he still runs today.