Guide to Financial Management

John Tennent

Publisher: The Economist, 2008 , 327 pages

ISBN: 978-1-86197-809-7

Synopsis:

Toggle Synopsis

Good financial management is essential for a business to suceed. Many businesses have failed for want of it, and all too often, a career aspiration has faltered, not for lack of effort or ability in a chosen field, but for not being able to understand the financial impacts of decisions and ultimately a failure to "deliver the numbers". Many managers who have found themselves in a senior role unable to ask questions of others — because it might imply ignorance — have wished that they had got to grips with financial matters earlier in their career.

This guide to financial management is designed to take you through financial principles and illustrate their application, providing a toolkit for managing financial responsibilities. Each chapter is written from an operational perspective in establishing and running a business. For anyone who wants to be on top of the financial management of their business, it is an invaluable reference.

Table of Contents:

Toggle Table of Contents

1. Defining a successful business
2. Business structures
3. The role of the finance department
4. Financial statements and accounting systems
5. Accounting concepts and principles
6. Investors
7. Cost to serve
8. Product pricing and profitability
9. Portfolio management
10. Investment appraisal
11. Business planning, budgeting and reporting
12. Operational ratios and metrics
13. Stockmarket and investor measures
14. Working capital management
15. Published reports and accounts
16. Accounting complexities

• Glossary of accounting terms
• List of companies