OK, we all know that we have to have those financial statements to present to lenders or as part of the business plan. But for those of us without a background in finance, we often use them as nothing more than an item on those checklists.

Fortunately, you don't have to have an MBA to turn those financial statements from a jumble of numbers into a useful management tool -- something with a little more depth than whether or not you're going to have money for next month's bills. Here's a three-part series on how to interpret your basic financial statements and use them as a valuable planning tool:

1. The Balance Sheet
2. The Income Statement
3. The Cash Flow Statement