- 1). Collect all your financial information so it's readily available. This should include recent bank statements, investment documents and bills showing what you owe on all debts, such as car payments and student loans.
- 2). Place the date atop a lined sheet of paper. Balance sheets are like a photograph of your finances -- a snapshot of a given moment. As such, they need to be dated so it's clear when the snapshot was taken. Later, when you update it, you can change the date to reflect the update.
- 3). List all of your assets on the sheet of paper, below the date. Use one line per asset, with the corresponding monetary figure listed to the left. This will make up the first part of your balance sheet. It should include all financial and tangible assets, such as your car, home and jewelry. Use estimates of their resale values if you're not sure what those values are.
- 4). Sum up all the figures corresponding with each asset to get your total assets.
- 5). List all of your liabilities below this, using one line for each liability and putting the corresponding amount on the same line, on the left side. Include car loans, student loans, credit card balances, the remaining balance on your mortgage and any other debt that must be paid back.
- 6). Sum up all the figures corresponding with each liability to get your total liabilities.
- 7). Subtract your liabilities from your assets. The resulting figure is your net worth. A negative number means that you have more liabilities than assets and need to work on paying down debts and expanding your assets. A positive number implies financial health or that you have more money and worthwhile property than you do debt.
- 8). Import the information into software such as Microsoft Excel, which will make it easy to update the information in your balance sheet. Update it periodically so it always reflects a true picture of your net worth.
Source...