Reading Financial Reports For Dummies
The ins and outs of financial reports, explained in plain EnglishWant to make sense of financial reports? This easy-to-follow guide gives you a set of tools to understand these complicated statements, helping you read between the lines to determine a company's true financial health. You'll make informed decisions about investing, spot possible problems, and use these reports to manage your own department or company for success.Get down to reporting basics — recognize different business types and how their structure affects the books, and grasp the accounting method underlying it allAnalyze the annual report — make sense of the balance sheet, income and cash flow statements, and the notes while spotting red flagsKnow your numbers — keep an eye on whether a company is making a profit or suffering a lossUnderstand how companies optimize operations — use reports to measure how efficiently management is using its resourcesMeet the financial watchdogs — from auditors to analysts, see who certifies report accuracy and how recent scandals have changed the rulesPractice makes perfect — put your skills to the test by dissecting the annual reports of two similar companies throughout the bookOpen the book and find:The accounting basics necessary to understand financial reportsNew information on reporting standards for private/small versus public/large businessesUpdates surrounding the 2007 law on international financial reporting standardsThe impact of corporate communications and new technologiesNew real-world examples that reflect current trendsUpdated Web sites and resourcesTips for spotting the fluff in financial reports