What are the three principles that help understand the construction of a firm's financial statements according to the chapter?

The three principles that help understand the construction of a firm's financial statements are the revenue recognition principle, the matching principle, and the historical cost principle.

These principles guide how financial statements are prepared and reported. The revenue recognition principle determines when revenues should be recorded, the matching principle aligns expenses with the revenues they generate, and the historical cost principle establishes the value of assets and liabilities based on their acquisition cost.