what is the difference between balance sheet of a firm and balance sheet of a company ?

If you own and operate your business single-handedly, financial specialists would call the company a "single-owner entity," also known as a sole proprietorship. From a legal standpoint, a single-owner company might carry more risks because the founder is personally liable for the entity's debts. Decoded, that means vendors and lenders can initiate litigation and seek financial recourse from the founder if the corporation cannot repay its liabilities on time. On a single-owner balance sheet, you're more likely to see cash, merchandise, customer receivable, real property and equipment in the "total assets" category. In the debts section, you'd see things like accounts payable, taxes due and outstanding loans. The equity section would include owner's equity, which is money an entrepreneur pours into a business.

On a company's statement of financial condition, you typically see everything that's integral to a single-owner balance sheet. Besides, you may see more complex items -- such as intangible assets along with deferred tax assets and liabilities -- and equity accounts as varied as common stock, preferred shares, dividend payments, retained earnings and treasury stock. Intangible assets lack physical matter and run the gamut from patents and copyrights to contract exclusivity rights, name recognition and customer goodwill. Deferred tax items arise out of temporary differences between income a company reports to the Internal Revenue Service and income it publishes for financial reporting purposes. Retained earnings represent income a business has kept in its cellars since its inception. "Treasury stock" and "repurchased shares" mean the same thing.