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A financial statement prepared on the basis of some assumed events and transactions that have not yet occurred." Historical financial statements are used to measure an organization's past financial performance and condition. Without historical financial statements, financial analysis and evaluation would not be possible and management, board members, investors, and customers would be largely in the dark about how well an organization has done. Pro forma financial statements are similar to historical financial statements in appearance and use, except that they focus on the future instead of the past and are based upon assumptions rather than hard fact. Historical statements should be real, solid, and scientific, while pro forma statements allow management to exercise a certain amount of creativity and flexibility. Pro forma statements reflect a dynamic environment in which change is still possible and a variety of different alternatives can be followed. They take the same forms as historical statements, the most common being the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of changes in financial position.
predicting the outcomes to help in decision making
