financial statement

Financial statements are statements, which contain summarised information of firm's financial affairs, organised systematically. They are the end products of the accounting system. They are intended to reveal the financial position of the enterprise, the result of its recent activities, and an analysis of what has been done with earnings. On the basis of information contained in the financial statements, the users predict firm's earning capacity and thereby make economic decisions - investment and financing. Besides assisting the users in decision making, the financial statements help them to assess the stewardship of the management. 

Thus, "Financial statements, essentially are interim reports, presented annually and reflect division of the life of an enterprise into more or less arbitrary accounting period - more or less frequently a year."

its defined in ACCOUNTING STD as:

Financial statements form part of the process of financial reporting. A
complete set of financial statements normally includes a balance sheet, a
statement of profit and loss (also known as ‘income statement’), a cash flow
statement and those notes and other statements and explanatory material that
are an integral part of the financial statements. They may also include
supplementary schedules and information based on or derived from, and
expected to be read with, such statements. Such schedules and supplementary
information may deal, for example, with financial information about business
and geographical segments, and disclosures about the effects of changing
prices. Financial statements do not, however, include such items as reports by
directors, statements by the chairman, discussion and analysis by management
and similar items that may be included in a financial or annual report