A financial statement provides a snapshot of the importer’s financial situation at the time it was prepared. It is the surety’s responsibility to determine whether the importer will be able to meet their financial obligations in the future. A surety normally requests a current interim (partial year) statement if the financial information is more than 8 months old. A failure to provide acceptable financial information would delay the approval and review process.

A financial statement consists of three main parts:

• Balance sheet (assets and liabilities)
• Income statement (profit and loss)
• Notes (from the independent accounting firm)