International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development

Financial statements are among the most important instruments through which a company communicates its financial position, performance, and strategic direction. They act as the foundation upon which investors, auditors, lenders, regulators, and internal management build critical decisions. In an era where markets are increasingly complex and competition grows more intense, the ability to interpret and evaluate financial statements has become not merely a technical necessity but a strategic skill. An evaluation of financial statements does not simply involve reading numbers; it involves understanding what those numbers mean in context, how they have evolved over time, and what they reveal about the operational health and longterm sustainability of the company. This study—an evaluation of the financial statements of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL)—emerged from my internship experience under a Chartered Accountant at Khan Associates, where I was exposed to real-time financial analysis, scrutiny of annual reports, ratio computation, comparative analysis, and interpretation of financial patterns.