MBA Math Monday Balance Sheet Basics

The MBA Math Monday series helps prospective MBA students to self assess their proficiency with the quantitative building blocks of the MBA first-year curriculum. Balance sheets provide a snapshot of an organizations financial condition at a moment in time, whether the organization is your favorite coffee shop or the struggling titans of Wall Street. This exercise focuses on the high-level structure and logic of a balance sheet. Exercise: Use the starting balance sheet and the list of changes to create an updated balance sheet and to answer the question. Ruston CompanyBalance SheetAs of December 31, 2008(amounts in thousands) Cash 3,300 Liabilities 5,100 Other Assets 3,000 Equity 1,200 Total Assets 6,300 Total Liabilities Equity 6,300 Between January 1 and March 31, 2009: 1. Cash decreases by $300,0002. Other Assets decrease by $200,0003. Equity increases by $400,000 What is the value for Liabilities on March 31, 2009? Solution (with audio commentary): click here Prof. Peter Regan created the self-paced, online MBA Math quantitative skills course and teaches live MBA courses at Dartmouth (Tuck), Duke (Fuqua), and Cornell (Johnson).