Financial Intelligence for HR Professionals : What You Really Need to Know about the Numbers

by Berman, Karen

• ISBN13: 9781422119136
• ISBN10: 1422119130
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-04-15
• Publisher: INGRAM

Summary

As An HR Professional, you know that companies win with talent. But business is run by numbers-and if you don't understand what the numbers mean and how they impact your business, you are limiting the role you can play in your company's success.

Author Biography

Karen Berman and Joe Knight, founders of the Los Angeles-based Business Literacy Institute, work with some of the world's best known and most respected organizations, including American Express, CVS/Caremark, General Electric, and Southwest Airlines John Case is a successful business book author

Table of Contents

Preface: What Is Financial Intelligence?	p. xi
The Art of Finance (and Why it Matters to HR)
You Can't Always Trust the Numbers	p. 3
Spotting Assumptions, Estimates, and Biases	p. 10
Why Increase Your Financial Intelligence?	p. 17
Part One Toolbox: Getting what you want; Knowing the players; Human due diligence	p. 29
The (Many) Peculiarities of the Income Statement
Profit Is an Estimate	p. 35
Cracking the Code of the Income Statement	p. 41
Revenue: The Issue Is Recognition	p. 49
Costs and Expenses: No Hard-and-Fast Rules	p. 55
The Many Forms of Profit	p. 67
Part Two Toolbox: Variance; Percent calculations; Line of sight	p. 73
The Balance Sheet Reveals the Most
Understanding Balance Sheet Basics	p. 79
Assets: More Estimates and Assumptions (Except for Cash)	p. 85
On the Other Side: Liabilities and Equity	p. 95
Why the Balance Sheet Balances	p. 100
The Income Statement Affects the Balance Sheet	p. 103
Part Three Toolbox: Employees as assets; Expenses vs. capital expenditures	p. 108
Cash Is King
Cash Is a Reality Check	p. 113
Profit [not equal] Cash (and You Need Both)	p. 117
The Language of Cash Flow	p. 124
How Cash Connects with Everything Else	p. 128
Why Cash Matters	p. 136
Part Four Toolbox: Free cash flow; Compensation and bonus plans	p. 140
Ratios: Learning What the Numbers Are Really Telling You
The Power of Ratios	p. 145
Profitability Ratios: The Higher the Better (Mostly)	p. 151
Leverage Ratios: The Balancing Act	p. 157
Liquidity Ratios: Can We Pay Our Bills?	p. 161
Efficiency Ratios: Making the Most of Your Assets	p. 164
Part Five Toolbox: Key business ratios; Key HR ratios; Understanding percent of sales; Ratio relationships	p. 171
How to Calculate (and Really Understand) Return on Investment
The Building Blocks of ROI	p. 177
Figuring ROI: The Nitty-Gritty	p. 184
Part Six Toolbox: Step-by-step analysis of capital expenditures; Deciding about outsourcing	p. 195
Applied Financial Intelligence: Working Capital Management
The Magic of Managing the Balance Sheet	p. 201
Your Balance Sheet Levers	p. 204
Homing In on Cash Conversion	p. 210
Part Seven Toolbox: Understanding accounts receivable aging	p. 214
Creating a Financially Intelligent HR Department (and Organization)
Financial Literacy, Transparency, and Corporate Performance	p. 217
Financial Literacy Strategies	p. 223
Part Eight Toolbox: The basics of Sarbanes-Oxley; HR and Sarbanes-Oxley	p. 230
Sample Financials	p. 233
Exercises to Build Your Financial Intelligence-Income Statement; Balance Sheet; Cash Flow Statement; Ratios	p. 237
Kimberly-Clark and FedEx Financial Statements	p. 265
Notes	p. 273
Acknowledgments	p. 275
Index	p. 279
About the Authors	p. 293
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.