This book aims to explain how to read, analyse, and interlink the voluminous information available in financial statements using charts, case analysis, and other tools. It provides an in-depth, step-by-step approach to understanding and decoding financial statements. The book is structured around five keys, each focusing on different components of financial statements. (i) Key #1 – Statement of Profit & Loss (a) Covers Sales, Other Income, Cost of Materials Consumed, Manufacturing and Operating Costs, Fi-nance Costs, Depreciation and Amortisation, Tax Expenses, Other Expenses, and Exceptional Items (ii) Key #2 – Balance Sheet (a) Details Tangible and Intangible Fixed Assets, Investments, Loans & Advanc-es, Other Assets, Inventories, Trade Receivables, Cash and Bank Balances, Shareholder's Funds, Provi-sions, Contingent Liabilities, Borrowings, Trade Payables, and Other Liabilities (iii) Key #3 – Connecting Statements (a) Examines Significant Accounting Policies, Notes on Accounts, and Cash Flow Statements (iv) Key #4 – Auditor's Report and CARO (a) Discusses the Concept of Audit, Internal Financial Controls, Auditor's Opinion, Emphasis of Matters, and the Companies Auditor's Report Order (CARO) (v) Key #5 – Master Key (a) Integrates the Profit & Loss Statement, Balance Sheet, Notes on Accounts, Auditor's Report, and CARO Report for comprehensive financial statement analysis This book extensively deals with the following issues & suggests how they can be mitigated through proper analysis of financial statements: (i) Mounting Bad Loans – Analyses the alarming rise in non-performing assets (NPAs) in Indian public sector banks and the impact of stress tests conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) (ii) Bank Frauds – Explores the root causes of bank frauds and provides strategies to mitigate these risks (iii) Liquidity Crunch – Discusses the liquidity issues faced by various financial sectors and their ef-fects on investment returns (iv) Regulatory Insights – Guides regulators on using financial statements to ensure compliance and assess financial health This book will be helpful to anyone analysing based on financial statements, including but not limited to: (i) Bankers – Enhance skills in loan appraisal and mon-itoring through detailed financial statement analysis (ii) CFOs – Understand the balance between busi-ness transactions and necessary disclosures (iii) Auditors – Identify and counteract accounting tricks to ensure fair financial reporting (iv) Analysts and Researchers – Conduct thorough financial statement studies to detect misleading practices (v) Investors and Stakeholders – Evaluate the genuineness of fi-nancial data for informed investment decisions (vi) Regulators – Use financial information for regulato-ry assessments and ensure compliance The Present Publication is the 4th Reprint Edition authored by Gyan B. Pipara, with the following noteworthy features: (i) [Reading Between the Lines of Financial Statements] Correlating relevant information using the author's 40+ years of experience with proper analysis. (ii) [Honing Analytical Skills] Provides methods to dissect financial statements with precision. (iii) [Unlocking Mysteries & Tricks] Explains how to analyse details and detect undisclosed information. (iv) [Focused Analysis] Helps identify strengths, early warning signs, frauds, creative accounting, and the genuineness of various items. (v) [Professional Oriented Book] This book has been developed keep-ing in mind the following factors: (a) Interaction of the author during his training with various banks and organisations on credit and analysis of the financial statement (b) Shaped by the authors' experi-ence of 40+ years being a chartered accountant, research analyst and fraud investigator (c) Reactions and responses of attendees during the training have also been incorporated at different places in the book (vi) [New Chapter on CARO 2020] has been considered in detail under Key #4 – The Companies Auditor's Report Order.