How Come You Don't Understand Your Accountant? (If You're So Brilliant) - Softcover

Cinnamon, Bob

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0749437251 ISBN 13: 9780749437251

Publisher: Kogan page, 2002

Synopsis

A guide to finance from the perspective of the pursuit of business growth. <i>How Come You Don't Understand Your Accountant?</i> uses the mechanism of a business proceeding from initial set-up through its first year of trading. Topics include: the balance sheet; market dynamics; budgeting and forecasting; fixed and variable costs; and more.

About this title

About the Author

<b>Bob Cinnamon</b> is an educator with a global reputation. As a director of the international training and consultancy firm, INSIGHT Marketing and People, Bob runs his popular masterclass and in-company training programme, Demystifying Financial Management, that has helped hundreds of managers and company directors from small and medium-sized businesses to major multi-nationals. Operating in some 30 countries, current clients include AstraZeneca, Avecia, BP, BT, Dow Corning, Dulux, DuPont, Glaxo SmithKline, Huntsman, ICI, JD Edwards, Pfizer, PPG, Qiagen and RoyalSunAlliance.

From the Back Cover

Even those with the most brilliant of business brains don t understand their accountants. But no doubt you wish you could! How many tomes on financial management have you waded through trying to get to grips with the concepts and language? Well, here is a book unlike any of them.

Firstly, this practical guide is not written by accountants. Secondly, it is based on a unique business simulation (as used by Harvard Business School), which follows a new business from initial set up through its first year of trading. It gives you a quick and effective crash course in the various stages of business growth. Along the way you are introduced to all the key financial principles, models and procedures so you ll be able to understand:

what management accounts reveal (and hide);
the difference between cash and profit;
how to use financial ratios to measure business performance;
the principles of market dynamics;
financial measures for improving business performance;
how to set budgets and evaluate projects.

It s not the aim of this book to turn you into a financial expert, but armed with an understanding of the basics and just enough of the detail, it will ensure that you can at last understand your accountant.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

<p><b>1 So why do you want to know more about finance? </b><br><br> Learning<br><br> A tale of two languages<br><br> <b>2 The business cycle </b><br><br> Setting up a company<br><br> The Moving Balance Sheet®<br><br> Creating value<br><br> Cash and profit<br><br> Setting up and running the business -- the opening month<br><br> Profit and loss (P&L) account<br><br> The balance sheet<br><br> Month 2 business cycle<br><br> Going to the bank<br><br> Doing the books<br><br> <b>3 The books and double entry bookkeeping </b><br><br> Reports<br><br> Double entry bookkeeping<br><br> Taxation<br><br> <b>4 Where do all the business functions fit in? </b><br><br> Sales<br><br> Marketing<br><br> Manufacturing<br><br> Supply chain management<br><br> Human resources<br><br> IT, maintenance and engineering<br><br> Research and development<br><br> <b>5 Financial planning -- the budgets </b><br><br> Budgeting<br><br> Cash flow forecast<br><br> Avoiding bankruptcy -- how to generate cash<br><br> <b>6 Measuring business performance -- financial ratios </b><br><br> Size<br><br> P&L account (income statement) analysis<br><br> Balance sheet analysis<br><br> <b>7 How our investors see us -- stock market ratios </b><br><br> What accounts do our investors want to see?<br><br> Shares<br><br> <b>8 Valuing a company </b><br><br> Asset value<br><br> Multipliers<br><br> Market capitalization<br><br> Balanced scorecard<br><br> Cash flows<br><br> <b>9 Shareholder value and economic profit </b><br><br> Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)<br><br> Economic profit<br><br> Total shareholder return (TSR)<br><br> <b>10 The hidden costs -- depreciation and amortization </b><br><br> Depreciation<br><br> Goodwill<br><br> Intangible assets<br><br> Capitalizing costs<br><br> Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)<br><br> <b>11 What must we sell to make a profit? </b><br><br> Variable costs<br><br> Fixed costs<br><br> Break-even point<br><br> <b>12 Tools for evaluating projects </b><br><br> Payback<br><br> Discounted cash flow (DCF)<br><br> Net present value (NPV)<br><br> Internal rate of return (IRR)<br><br> Terminal values<br><br> Economic profit<br><br> Pitfalls<br><br> Other factors<br><br> <b>13 Where is all our cash? -- managing working capital </b><br><br> Stock (inventories)<br><br> Debtors<br><br> Creditors<br><br> Write-offs<br><br> Cash flow implications of working capital<br><br> <b>14 Next Steps </b><br><br> Training<br><br> Contact details<br><br> <b>15 Glossary of financial terms</b></p>

Edition details

• Publisher: Kogan page
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0749437251
• ISBN 13: 9780749437251
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 190