Financial Management For Public, Health, and Not-for-Profit Organizations

by Finkler, Steven A

• ISBN13: 9780131471986
• ISBN10: 0131471988
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

One of the few books that addresses financial and managerial accounting within the three major areas of the public sector--government, health, and not-for-profit--the Second Edition provides the fundamentals of financial management for those pursuing careers within these fields. KEY TOPICS: " With a unique presentation that explains the rules specific to the public sector, this book outlines the framework for readers to access and apply financial information more effectively. Employing an engaging and user-friendly approach, this book clearly defines essential vocabulary, concepts, methods, and basic tools of financial management and financial analysis that are imperative to achieving success in the field. This book is intended for financial managers and general managers who are required to obtain, understand, and use accounting information to improve the financial results of their organizations, specifically within the areas of government or public policy and management, not-for-profit management, and health policy and management.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Setting The Stage

Introduction to Financial Management

Planning

Planning for Success: Budgeting

Additional Budgeting Concepts

Understanding Costs

Capital Budgeting and Long-Term Financing

Implementation and Controlling Results

Managing Short-Term Resources and Obligations

Accountability and Control

Reporting Results

Taking Stock of Where You Are: The Balance Sheet

Reporting the Results of Operations: The Activity and Cash Flow Statements

Unique Aspects of Accounting for Health Care and Not-for-Profit Organizations

Unique Aspects of Accounting for State and Local Governments

Financial Analysis

Financial Statement Analysis

Financial Condition Analysis

Glossary

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Today, perhaps more than at any time in the past, managers and policy makers of public service organizations must have a working knowledge of financial management. This does not mean that all managers and policy makers of government, not-for-profit, and health care organizations must be financial managers. However, they cannot simply rely on others to be aware of the financial issues that involve the organization. All managers must be able to understand and make use of financial information. This book provides a foundation in financial management to allow people to understand and use financial information. The intent of the book is not to make the reader into an accountant. Rather, its goal is to provide enough of the language and tools of financial management to make the reader conversant in the field. The primary goal is to provide the skills necessary to use financial information rather than the more technical skills needed to generate that information. However, one must have some sense of where numbers are coming from to be able to beneficially interpret and use those numbers. The book strives to provide that conceptual foundation. One of the skills that all users of financial information must have is a strong financial vocabulary. The fields of accounting, finance, and public finance are heavily laden with jargon. Any accountant can bury a nonaccountant in debits and credits, journals, and reversing entries. A major emphasis of this book is on providing a working vocabulary for communication, so that the reader can develop the ability to ask the right questions and interpret the answers. In addition to vocabulary, this book describes a wide variety of methods, processes, and tools of accounting and finance. They are not described in sufficient detail for the reader to fire the treasurer and controller and take over their jobs. (How many of you really want to do that?) Instead, there is sufficient detail so that the reader can comfortably use the wide variety of financial reports that are generated in the typical organization. Also, the user of this book will have an awareness of the techniques available that can provide information to help improve decision making. What are the typical types of organizations with which this text is concerned? The focus of the book is on the financial management of government, health, and not-for-profit organizations. Most financial books are oriented toward the for-profit corporate sector. Historically, they have had a heavy emphasis on manufacturing or financial markets. Recently, as the service sector of society has grown, there has been some shift in financial management toward service industries. However, government, health, and not-for-profit organizations are not typical service industries. The public sector that these organizations represent has developed its own financial management style and rules. Unusual public sector accounting approaches, such as fund accounting, heighten the challenge of studying financial management. As a result, it is vitally important to have a targeted book, such as this one. Some users of this book will indeed want to go further in the field of financial management and gain a specialized knowledge. Those persons will need to be able to not only use but also generate financial information. Some of the more technical aspects needed by those individuals are contained in the appendices to a number of the chapters in the book. It is the author's hope and belief that this book fills a void in a number of ways. First, a substantial effort was made to present all the material the target audience needs, while not including excess material that would obfuscate more than it would clarify. The balance of being sufficiently inclusive to adequately cover the topic and yet not so inclusive as to overwhelm the reader is a difficult one. It is one that the author has devoted substantial efforts to achieve. Second, the book has