Overview
A bank balance contains certain significant line items that may not be found on other firms balance sheets.
Assets
A bank takes the deposits of its customers and invests those deposits in other assets. In order to earn a return, the bank will not hold the majority of its customers deposits as central bank reserves. Rather, the bank will lend out its cash as loans, or purchase other securities as assets.
The following represents a list of assets that a bank will likely hold.
Liabilities
The primary liability of a bank is its customers deposits, although some banks are also funded by other borrowings.