What financial statement is most useful in assessing working capital?

The balance sheet is the most useful financial statement for assessing working capital because it provides a snapshot of a company's assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time. Working capital is defined as current assets minus current liabilities, and the balance sheet explicitly lists both categories. This allows stakeholders to easily determine the liquidity of a business—essentially its ability to cover short-term obligations with short-term assets.

The information on the balance sheet reflects the company's operational capability and financial health, making it the preferred choice for evaluating working capital. This insight helps in understanding how well the company can manage its day-to-day operations and respond to financial challenges.

Other financial statements, while informative in their own right, do not focus on the current asset and liability structure to the same extent. The income statement provides insights into profitability over a period, the cash flow statement shows how cash is generated and used, and the statement of retained earnings outlines changes in equity, none of which directly detail current assets and liabilities in the way the balance sheet does.