Practical Financial Management: A Guide to Budgets, Balance Sheets and Business Finance

✍ Scribed by Colin Barrow

• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 224
• Edition: 7th
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Entrepreneurs need to be financially literate. The most common cause of business failure is poor financial control stemming from an ignorance of the basics of business finance. "Practical Financial Management" is intended to help those who find business finance confusing. Now in its seventh edition, it continues to provide advice on proper financial planning and control, and reinforces essential points through the use of questions within each section. Beginning with an introduction to the key financial statements, it moves on to look at the tools of financial analysis - the keys to controlling a business successfully. The final part of the book deals with business planning and budgeting, a vital area of business finance as most new ventures cannot get off the ground without a business plan, and existing businesses cannot expand. An invaluable read for aspiring entrepreneurs and those already in business, this book could mean the difference between success and failure.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 5
Preface......Page 17
Part 1 Assembling financial data......Page 29
The accounts you have to keep......Page 33
Getting some help......Page 41
The structure of the cash flow statement......Page 43
Avoiding overtrading......Page 44
Estimating start-up cash requirements......Page 45
Cash flow spreadsheet tools......Page 46
Structuring the profit-and-loss account......Page 47
Dealing with debtors and creditors......Page 52
Cost of goods sold......Page 54
Profit and loss for a service business......Page 55
Profit-and-loss spreadsheet tool......Page 57
A personal experience......Page 58
The public picture......Page 64
The structure of the business balance sheet......Page 66
The ground rules, concepts and conventions......Page 70
Methods of depreciation......Page 75
The capital register......Page 76
Balance sheet and other online tools......Page 77
Part 2 Understanding the figures......Page 79
Debt vs equity......Page 85
Using your own resources......Page 87
Borrowing money......Page 90
Getting an investor......Page 97
Going public......Page 100
Free money......Page 103
Levels of profit......Page 104
Working capital relationships......Page 105
Return on investment (ROI)......Page 106
Market tests......Page 107
Getting company accounts......Page 108
Ratio analysis spreadsheets......Page 110
Adding up the costs......Page 111
The components of cost......Page 112
Break-even point......Page 116
Costing to meet profit objectives......Page 118
Costing for special orders......Page 120
Real-time internet pricing strategies......Page 121
Costing for business start-up......Page 122
Costing to identify unprofitable products and services......Page 124
Getting help with break-even......Page 126
Pricing for profit......Page 127
Reducing costs......Page 129
Squeezing working capital......Page 131
The profit-improvement programme......Page 132
Part 3 Figuring out the future......Page 135
Budgeting for a business......Page 137
Timescale and detail......Page 139
Objectives......Page 140
Market appreciation......Page 143
Forecasting sales......Page 146
Resources appreciation......Page 148
Key strategies and operating plans......Page 153
Budget guidelines......Page 155
Monitoring performance......Page 156
Flexing the budget......Page 157
Seasonality and trends......Page 158
Building a budget model......Page 159
10 Capital budgets......Page 161
Average return on capital employed(ARCE)......Page 162
Payback period......Page 164
Discounted cash flow......Page 166
Present value......Page 168
The profitability index......Page 170
Internal rate of return......Page 172
Risk and sensitivity analysis......Page 175
Some general factors in investment decisions......Page 176
Online capital budgeting calculator......Page 177
11 Preparing a business plan......Page 178
Why you need a business plan......Page 179
Contents of the plan......Page 180
Tips on communicating the plan......Page 183
Part 4 Dealing with regulatory authorities......Page 187
12 Computing taxes......Page 189
Sole traders and partnerships......Page 190
Company taxation......Page 192
Which structure is best?......Page 193
Minimizing taxes......Page 194
Value added tax (VAT)......Page 196
Surviving a tax investigation......Page 201
Finding a low-tax country......Page 202
Sole traders......Page 207
Partnerships and limited partnerships......Page 208
Limited companies......Page 209
Cooperatives......Page 210
Help and advice on business ownership matters......Page 211
Directors’ duties......Page 212
The Companies Act 2006......Page 213
Appointing a company secretary......Page 214
Taking on auditors......Page 215
Dealing with business failure......Page 216
Non-executive directors......Page 218
Index......Page 219
Index of advertisers......Page 224