Accounting and Financial Fundamentals for Nonfinancial Executives

by Ballast, David Kent

• ISBN13: 9780814479285
• ISBN10: 0814479286
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-03-14
• Publisher: Amacom Books

Summary

"Finance and accounting are the backbone of any organization. Yet plenty of executives and businesspeople are befuddled and intimidated by number crunching. Now there's a complete, concise, non-technical guide to grasping all the essentials of accounting -- and directly applying financial data. Readers will learn how to: * pinpoint the most profitable products or sales regions * figure the rate of return from a capital investment * make internal management reports more useful * understand and prepare a statement of cash flows Its straightforward approach will appeal to all managers and executives who need a practical, comprehensible lesson in using financial analysis to set key business goals, measure results, and make smart decisions."

Author Biography

"ROBERT RACHLIN (Plainview, NY) is president of Robert Rachlin Associates and serves as Assistant Dean for Business Studies at Hofstra University. He wrote The Handbook of Business Budgeting, along with many other books.

ALLEN SWEENEY (Miami, FL) is a former senior vice president and CFO of Del Monte Foods."

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
The Dual Aspect Principle	1	(12)
The Accrual Concept	13	(10)
Other Basic Concepts	23	(7)
The Money Measurement Principle.
The Business Entity Principle.
The Going Concern Principle.
The Cost Concept.
The Realization Principle.
Accounting Conventions	30	(4)
The Convention of Consistency.
The Convention of Conservatism.
The Convention of Materiality.
Financial Photography: Balance Sheets and Income Statements	34	(12)
The Balance Sheet.
The Income Statement.
Sales.
Special Accounting Problems	46	(18)
Fixed Assets.
Inventory Accounting.
Accounts Receivable.
The Basic Accounting Process	64	(23)
Basic Rules of the Accounting Process.
Filing Systems.
Steps of the Accounting Process.
Manufacturing and Merchandising Cost Essentials	87	(18)
Merchandising vs. Manufacturing.
Manufacturing Cost Systems.
Other Basic Cost Concepts and Their Applications	105	(14)
Types of Costs.
Other Cost Concepts.
The Contribution Concept.
Other Applications of the Contribution Concept.
Fundamentals of Investment Analysis: Evaluating New Investments---Some Basic Considerations	119	(16)
The Payback Method.
The Accounting Method.
Fundamentals of Investment Analysis: Evaluating New Investments---Present Value ROI Analysis	135	(22)
Future Value vs. Present Value.
The Cash Investment.
The Cash Savings.
The Present Value Method.
Discounted Cash Flow---Internal Rate of Return.
Excess Present Value Index.
Fundamentals of Investment Analysis: Evaluating New Investments	157	(6)
The Payback Method.
The Accounting Method.
Present Value Methods.
Choosing the Best Method.
Setting the Rate of Return	163	(6)
Fundamentals of Investment Analysis: Measuring Overall Business Performance Using ROI	169	(21)
Return on Shareholders' Equity.
Return on Total Investment.
Return on Total Assets.
Some General Considerations.
Other ROI Applications.
Analysis of ROI by Product.
Fundamentals of Financial Analysis: Balance Sheets and Income Statements	190	(15)
Assessing Financial Condition.
Financial Analysis: Some Disclaimers.
Understanding Cash Flows	205	(14)
Defining Cash Flows.
Decisions That Impact Cash Balances.
Statement of Cash Flows.
Preparing the Statement of Cash Flows.
Benefits of Understanding the Statement of Cash Flows.
Appendix A: Compound Interest Tables	219	(4)
Appendix B: Present Value Tables	223	(8)
Index	231