Synopses & Reviews
How to Read a Financial Report Seventh EditionFinancial reports provide vital information to investors, lenders, and managers. Yet, the financial statements in a financial report seem to be written in a foreign language that only accountants can understand. This Seventh Edition of How to Read a Financial Report breaks through the language barrier, clears away the fog, and offers a plain-English user's guide to financial reports. The book helps you get a sure-handed grip on the profit, cash flow, and financial condition of any business.
Here's what's new in the Seventh Edition:
Discussion of the transition to international accounting and financial reporting standards
A streamlined centerpiece exhibit used throughout the book to explain connections between the three financial statements
An integrated section on analyzing profit, cash flow, and solvency for investors, lenders, and managers (now Part Two in this edition)
Reflection on financial reporting and auditing in the post-Enron era
"What distinguishes Tracy's efforts from other manuals is an innovative structure that visually ties together elements of the balance sheet and income statement by tracing where and how a line item in one affects an entry in another."
—Inc.
"An excellent job of showing how to separate the wheat from the chaff without choking in the process."
—The Miami Herald
"A wonderful book organized logically and written clearly. For a Fool to be an effective investor, she has to know her way around a financial statement. This book will help you develop that skill. It's the clearest presentation of many accounting concepts that this Fool has seen."
—Selena Maranjian, The Motley Fool
Synopsis
Hidden somewhere among all the numbers in a financial report is vitally important information about where a company has been and where it is going. This is especially relevant in light of the current corporate scandals.
The sixth edition of this bestselling book is designed to help anyone who works with financial reports--but has neither the time nor the need for an in-depth knowledge of accounting--cut through the maze of accounting information to find out what those numbers really mean.
Synopsis
A valuable resource for translating financial reports into real, meaningful information for investors
Financial reports provide vital information to investors, lenders, and managers. Yet the statements in a financial report seem to be written in a foreign language that only other accountants can understand. This Seventh Edition of the bestselling How to Read a Financial Report breaks through the language barrier, clears away the fog, and offers a plain-English user's guide to financial reports. It helps readers get a sure-handed grip on the profit, cash flow, and financial condition of any business. New information found in this updated edition include: discussions of the transition to international accounting and financial reporting standards; reflections on financial reporting and auditing in the post-Enron era; detailed illustrations that explain connections between the three financial statements; and much more.
John A. Tracy, CPA (Boulder, CO), is an award-winning Professor of Accounting, Emeritus, at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His other books include The Fast Forward MBA in Finance, Second Edition (978-0-471-20285-1), Accounting for Dummies, Fourth Edition (978-0-470-24600-9), and Accounting Workbook for Dummies (978-0-471-79145-4). Tracy has also served on the board of directors of a bank, and has taught executive development programs.
Synopsis
Financial reports provide vital information to investors, lenders, and managers. This chapter from the seventh edition of
How to Read a Financial Report offers a plain-English user's guide to financial reports. The book helps you get a sure-handed grip on the profit, cash flow, and financial condition of any business. This chapter delves into:
- External income statements
- Comparing Equal Percent changes
- Reporting operating expenses
- Analyzing a management profit report
- Making changes in the profit equation
- Determining the breakeven point
About the Author
JOHN A. TRACY is an award-winning Professor of Accounting, Emeritus, at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His other books include The Fast Forward MBA in Finance, Second Edition, Accounting For Dummies, Fourth Edition, and Accounting Workbook For Dummies, all published by Wiley.
Table of Contents
Part One—Components and Connections in Financial Statements.1 Starting with Cash Flows.
2 The Three Financial Statements.
3 Profit Isn't Everything.
4 Sales Revenue and Accounts Receivable.
5 Cost of Goods Sold Expense and Inventory.
6 Inventory and Accounts Payable.
7 Operating Expenses and Accounts Payable.
8 Operating Expenses and Prepaid Expenses.
9 A Unique Expense: Depreciation.
10 Accruing the Liability for Unpaid Expenses.
11 Income Tax Expense and Its Liability.
12 Net Income and Retained Earnings; Earnings per Share (EPS).
13 Cash Flow from Operating (Profit-Making) Activities.
14 Cash Flows from Investing and Financing Activities.
15 Footnotes to Financial Statements.
Part Two—Financial Statement Analysis.
16 Impact of Growth and Decline on Cash Flow.
17 Financial Statement Ratios.
18 Profit Analysis for Business Managers.
Part Three—Reliability of Financial Report.
19 Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards.
20 Accounting Methods and Massaging the Numbers.
21 Audits of Financial Reports in the Post-Enron Era.
22 Parting Comments.
Index.