DON’T LET YOUR FEAR OF FINANCE GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR SUCCESS

Can you prepare a breakeven analysis? Do you know the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet? Or understand why a business that’s profitable can still go belly-up? Has your grasp of your company’s numbers helped—or hurt—your career?

Whether you’re new to finance or you just need a refresher, this go-to guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to master the fundamentals, as all good managers must.

The HBR Guide to Finance Basics for Managers will help you:

• Learn the language of finance
• Compare your firm’s financials with rivals’
• Shift your team’s focus from revenues to profits
• Assess your vulnerability to industry downturns
• Use financial data to defend budget requests
• Invest smartly through cost/benefit analysis

Now fully revised and updated, the "Third Edition" of "How to Comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404: Assessing the Effectiveness of Internal Control" is the perfect starting point for companies with no previous SOX experience. Packed with practice aids including forms, checklists, illustrations, diagrams, and tables, the new edition leads auditing professionals through every step of the audit processes associated with Section 404 compliance.

A timely, practical, and concise handbook of best practices for nonprofit financial management

In 2010 an estimated 325,000 charities, membership groups, and trade associations?with small nonprofits disproportionately represented?stand to lose their tax exemptions for failure to comply with financial management requirements. Nonprofit Financial Management: A Practical Guide is a timely, functional, and concise handbook of best practices for nonprofit organizations of every size.Addresses federal reporting requirements and discusses methods to decrease expenses, ensure accounting control, increase revenues through professional cash management, and understand budget statementsExplains how to read financial statements and analyze a nonprofit's financial condition by using the most recent IRS 990 reporting formCovers the full range of financial-management topics, including accounting, internal controls, auditing, evaluating financial condition, budgeting, cash management and banking, purchasing and contracting, borrowing and risk management

Written in an easy-to-read style, with more than 100 exhibits, this book is essential for every nonprofit financial manager.

Essential guidance for companies to examine and improve their fraud programs

Corporate governance legislation has become increasingly concerned with the ongoing resilience of organizations and, particularly, with their ability to resist corporate fraud from the lowest levels to the upper echelons of executive management. It has become unacceptable for those responsible for corporate governance to claim, "I didn't know." "Corporate Fraud and Internal Control" focuses on the appropriateness of the design of the system of internal controls in fraud risk mitigation, as well as the mechanisms to ensure effective implementation and monitoring on an ongoing basis.Applicable for a wide variety of environments, including governmental, financial, manufacturing and e-business sectorsIncludes case studies from the United States, Europe, and AfricaFollows the standards laid down by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the internationally recognized body governing this activityAccompanying interrogation software demo (software demo is not included as part of this book's e-book file, but is available for download after purchase)

Written by a fraud prevention leader, "Corporate Fraud and Internal Control" addresses the concerns of both management and audit in ensuring a demonstrable level of activity to ensure sustainability of the organization and minimization of the impacts of fraud, upon early detection.

The volume of new municipal bond issues has increased dramatically over the past thirty years. This new book by Alan Steiss provides an essential and comprehensive guide to the various new fiduciary and fiscal instruments used in the capital budgeting and finance process in the public sector. Steiss convincingly argues that capital budgeting and debt administration, when pursued from a strategic planning perspective as opposed to the more conventional cost-based framework, provides a forward-looking alternative based on a jurisdiction's needs, its resource base, and growth potential. Strategic Facilities Planning illustrates how the allocation of fiscal resources to acquire or construct and maintain strategic facilities can serve as a primary instrument for the effectuation of long-range public policy objectives. This book will serve as an important reference or course text for students and a guide for practitioners in public and business administration and urban planning.

The Encyclopedia, with its accompanying CD-ROM, is a tailor-made reference for professionals in the building industry who need immediately the most reliable and current sources of information in the field. In an industry already flooded with an enormous amount of resources, the explosion of the Internet and the World Wide Web in particular has added yet another dimension to the flood of information available to the practicing professional.

The Encyclopedia
-- provides the "intelligence" to find, evaluate, and contact the resources that can save time and money;
-- enables the user to cull through the vast number of information sources and quickly target specific areas of interest and the "best" sources within those areas;
-- offers the ability to make custom searches, using the full-text search capability or performing "Boolean" searches;
-- gives the user the ability to further personalize the searches with notes and reports that can be printed and used for presentations.

Effective risk management - the identification, assessment and prioritization of risks - is a vital consideration when looking to safeguard your company's commercial future and deal with the latest regulatory requirements. Managing Business Risk will enable your company to maintain controls on risks that may threaten your business while at the same time delivering transparent reporting to your stakeholders. The book examines the key areas of risk in today's competitive and complex business market. Drawing on expert advice from leading risk consultants, lawyers and regulatory authorities, it shows you how to protect your business against a rising tide of risks. If you don't build risk controls into the structure of your company, from the boardroom down, then your business could be vulnerable to a number of threats - both internal and external. Identify and neutralise them now, and give your company a competitive advantage.

Praise for VALUE MAPS

"Equivocator, Explorer, Experimenter, Exploiter, Extender--Chapter 12 might be well served as mandatory reading for all subject matter experts SPARC is not a valuation, per se, but rather a separate consulting engagement that might interest a client--especially if that client is preparing for a sale or planning an exit strategy. Miller has taken the good ideas from five disciplines and married them with value enhancement, creating what could become a very good 'add-on' consulting engagement. NACVA recommends, and looks forward to, further dialogue related to this new approach. This book will open your eyes to new opportunities."
--Parnell Black, MBA, CPA, CVA, Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA)

"No one illuminates the murky intersection where business strategy and private company value creation meet better than Warren Miller. Now he's focused his extensive professional training and real-world experience to produce this intellectually rich, yet down-to-earth and fun-to-read road map we can all use. Business owners and leaders, financial analysts, management consultants, wealth managers, CPAs, business brokers, private equity investors, business appraisers--no one should plan to increase the value of an enterprise without Value Maps in their passenger seat."
--David Foster, CEO, Business Valuation Resources

"Private-equity analysts do not often come across scholarly and technical professional reading laced with laugh-out-loud moments Yet this is exactly what one finds in "Value Maps." Warren Miller's advice stems from his career as a finance executive, a CPA, a valuation analyst, and a 'recovering academic.' With pitch-perfect balance, Warren has created both a must-have professional reference guide and a best-practices road map designed to enhance the profitability of your client's business and your own--all in a very readable style with just a 'spoon-full of sugar.' Enjoy the read "
--Gary M. Karlitz, ASA, CPA, Partner-in-Charge, Valuation Services, Forensic Services, and Forensic Accounting, Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP

"Extremely readable, with numerous real-world examples--valuation specialists who don't read this book will soon be looking for a new profession. Miller takes the term 'valuation' to new levels, suggesting that appraisers can indeed add real value to their clients' businesses. Clients should demand that a valuation professional read this book before he or she will be hired."
--Alfred M. King, Vice Chairman, Marshall & Stevens, Inc.

Discusses breakeven cost-volume-profit analysis for single- and multiple-product in single- and multi-period cases Presents financial information, cost systems and engineering economic analysis techniques for engineers and non-business professionals Offers accounting and quantitative techniques for manufacturing joint cost allocation Covers financial ratio analysis for assessing the organization's financial position and profitability Provides skills to apply engineering economic and cost analysis techniques, for the purpose of economic justification of engineering projects, cost control, and increasing productivity

Damondaran on Valuation will not only convince you of the vitality of the many valuation models available to you, it will help ensure that you develop the acumen needed to select the right model for any valuation scenario.

Written by a gifted teacher and respected valuation authority, Damodaran on Valuation offers systematic examination of the three basic approaches to valuation - discounted cash-flow valuation, relative valuation, and contingent claim valuation - and the various models within these broad categories.

Using numerous real-world examples involving both US and International firms, the book illuminates the purpose of each particular model, its advantages and limitatations, the step-by-step process involved in putting the model to work, and the kinds of firms to which it is best applied. Among the tools presented are designed to:
* Estimate the cost of equity - including the capital asset pricing model and arbitrage pricing model
* Estimate growth rates - with coverage of how to arrive at a weighted average of growth rates by blending three separate approaches
* Value equity - focusing on the Gordon Growth Model and the two-and three-stage dividend discount model
* Measure free cash flow to equity - cash flows that are carefully delineated from the dividends of most firms
* Value firms - including free cash flow to firm models, which are especially suited to highly leveraged firms
* Estimate the value of assets by looking at the pricing of comparable assets - with insight into the use and misuse of price/earning and price/book value ratios, and underutilized price-to-sales ratios
* Measure the value of assets that share option characteristics - including a comparative look at the classic Black-Scholes and simpler binomial models.

Supported by an optional IBM-compatible disk, which consists of spreadsheet programs designed to help users apply the models highlighted in the book, Damodaran on Valuation provides practitioners involved in securities analysis, portfolio management, M&A, and corporate finance with the knowledge they need to value any asset.

This book provides the most comprehensive treatment of the theoretical concepts and modelling techniques of quantitative risk management. Whether you are a financial risk analyst, actuary, regulator or student of quantitative finance, Quantitative Risk Management gives you the practical tools you need to solve real-world problems. Describing the latest advances in the field, Quantitative Risk Management covers the methods for market, credit and operational risk modelling. It places standard industry approaches on a more formal footing and explores key concepts such as loss distributions, risk measures and risk aggregation and allocation principles. The book's methodology draws on diverse quantitative disciplines, from mathematical finance and statistics to econometrics and actuarial mathematics. A primary theme throughout is the need to satisfactorily address extreme outcomes and the dependence of key risk drivers. Proven in the classroom, the book also covers advanced topics like credit derivatives. * Fully revised and expanded to reflect developments in the field since the financial crisis* Features shorter chapters to facilitate teaching and learning* Provides enhanced coverage of Solvency II and insurance risk management and extended treatment of credit risk, including counterparty credit risk and CDO pricing* Includes a new chapter on market risk and new material on risk measures and risk aggregation

Your Best Approach to Determining Value

If you're buying, selling, or valuing a business, how can you determine its true value? By basing it on present market conditions and sales of similar businesses. The market approach is the premier way to determine the value of a business or partnership. With convincing evidence of value for both buyers and sellers, it can end stalemates and get deals closed. Acclaimed for its empirical basis and objectivity, this approach is the model most favored by the IRS and the United States Tax Court--as long as it's properly implemented.

Shannon Pratt's The Market Approach to Valuing Businesses, Second Edition provides a wealth of proven guidelines and resources for effective market approach implementation. You'll find information on valuing and its applications, case studies on small and midsize businesses, and a detailed analysis of the latest market approach developments, as well as: A critique of US acquisitions over the last twenty-five years An analysis of the effect of size on value Common errors in applying the market approach Court reactions to the market approach and information to help you avoid being blindsided by a litigation opponent

Must reading for anyone who owns or holds a partial interest in a small or large business or a professional practice, as well as for CPAs consulting on valuations, appraisers, corporate development officers, intermediaries, and venture capitalists, The Market Approach to Valuing Businesses will show you how to successfully reach a fair agreement--one that will satisfy both buyers and sellers and stand up to scrutiny by courts and the IRS.

Fundraising in Times of Crisis draws on renowned consultant Kim Klein’s more than twenty-five years of fundraising experience. This much-needed resource shows troubled groups how to identify what is really going on and how to assess the damage. Fundraising in Times of Crisis helps executive directors and development professionals of nonprofit organizations plan for both the short and long term and explains how to evaluate the success of their efforts. Questionnaires, checklists, tips, and action steps walk you through the process of self-assessment and map out a road to recovery. No matter what your particular crisis—the sudden loss of an executive director, a public scandal, a major donor attrition, or a daunting increase in the demand for services—this book will show you how to survive and thrive in tough times.

Expert guidance for fiscally responsible engineering and technology managers

Written for practicing project engineers, students, and technical managers with no previous background in accounting or finance, Financial and Economic Analysis for Engineering and Technology Management, Second Edition provides a thorough grounding in accounting and introductory finance to help make better financial decisions in the workplace.

This thoroughly updated Second Edition is an accessible self-study guide and text that helps engineers extract important meaning from financial statements and accounting records, ask insightful questions, engage in thoughtful debate about accounting and financial issues, and make informed decisions that benefit their companies. Offering a rigorous background in accounting-including balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements-this valuable guide builds on this foundation to address financial markets and corporate finance, including capital investment analysis, and managerial and cost accounting.

Financial and Economic Analysis for Engineering and Technology Management, Second Edition features:

• New material on NPV, IRR, and the link between financial accounting and financial management
• Key accounting procedures and analytical techniques explained in jargon-free language
• Dozens of discussion questions and practice problems
• Real-life case studies with an available solutions manual

Based on a formal six-step process for analysis and decision-making, this book employees an external focus, with particular emphasis on credit and equity investment decisions.  This concise yet comprehensive treatment of the subject covers financial statements, accounting information, stock market information, economic and industry information, and other sources for recommendations and decisions.  Assuming a reasonable understanding of basic accounting and finance principles the book expands from these principles to structure financial analysis for specific recommendations or decisions.

Quick-reference guidance showing new controllers how to enhance performance while avoiding pitfalls

Designed to give new controllers a firm foundation in the concepts of managing the accounting department, locating GAAP information, and analyzing and knowing what to do with key accounting information, "The Essential Controller, Second Edition" is the invaluable primer you can turn to for the foundation you need to succeed. Whether your business is large, small, or medium-sized, this volume provides a complete overview of the controller's responsibilities and the role that today's controllers should be playing.Offers new coverage of finance strategyUpdates taxation strategyIncludes a new controller checklistQuick reference guide that controllers can turn toAlso by Steven M. Bragg: "The Controller's Function: The Work of the Managerial Accountant, Fourth Edition"

"The Essential Controller, Second Edition" is the go-to handbook that you will use every day for dealing with the everyday issues facing today's controllers.

Take the risk out of financial risk management Written by bestselling author and past winner of the GARP Award's Risk Manager of the Year, Aaron Brown, Financial Risk Management For Dummies offers thorough and accessible guidance on successfully managing and controlling financial risk within your company. Through easy-to-follow instruction, you'll find out how to manage risk, firstly by understanding it, and then by taking control of it. Plus, you'll discover how to measure and value financial risk, set limits, stop losses, control drawdowns and hedge bets. Financial risk management uses financial instruments to manage exposure to risk within firms, large and small particularly credit risk and market risk. From managing and measuring risk to working in financial institutions and knowing how to communicate risk to your company and clients, Financial Risk Management For Dummies makes it easy to make sense of the management of risk when working in various different financial institutions and concludes by covering the topic of how to communicate risk how to report it properly and how to deal with and comply with all of the regulations. * Covers managing risk and working as a financial risk manager * Provides everything you need to know about measuring financial risk * Walks you through working in financial institutions * Demonstrates how to communicate risk If you work in the financial sector and want to make financial risk management your mission, you've come to the right place!

Product acquisition involves an examination of the support cost of major equipment over its total life years. Depending on the type of equipment, support costs may range from 10 to 100 times the cost of acquisition. "Life Cycle Costing: Techniques, Models and Applications" offers a comprehensive approach to the entire field, and treats it in such a way that the reader requires no previous knowledge to understand the contents. It covers all advances and recent progress in life cycle costing from its history and definitions to current approaches. It is fully referenced for deeper study in any specific area (there are over 1150 references with an appendix) and contains more than 50 examples with their solutions. Subjects covered include reliability improvement warranty, computer hardware and software costing, vehicles life cycle costing, reliability engineering, life cycle costing in the aircraft industry, and processing systems costing. This work is intended for all engineers and senior students of engineering or business administration, administrators, cost analysts, researchers, academics, and anyone involved with equipment procurement.

This practical workbook will help you put in place the last component of a comprehensive development office— an endowment program. Building Your Endowment gives development professionals, executive directors, consultants, and volunteers the information needed to understand and implement an endowment program that will get bottom-line results. Based on the philosophy and teachings of Henry R. Rosso— founder of the Fund Raising School and the preeminent twentieth century fund raising educator— Building Your Endowment is infused with Rosso's views, approaches, and perspectives on fund raising. Building Your Endowment

• Offers systemic approaches to developing an endowment fund raising program
• Includes the strategic choices an organization faces when developing endowments
• Contains a proven approach to endowment donors that has been successful for other organizations
• Gives a summary of the unique components of endowment and how it is different from other kinds of fund raising

Agriculture remains an important means of alleviating poverty, but shortage of finance can constrain its development. At the same time, agriculture is evolving towards a global system requiring high-quality, competitive products, and is organized in value chains which often exclude smallholders. Value chain financing in agriculture offers an opportunity to increase the scope, and reduce the cost and risk of financing to agriculture. It can also help value chains to be more inclusive, by making resources available for smallholders to be integrated into higher value market opportunities. Agricultural Value Chain Finance provides a comprehensive look at the models, tools and approaches used by industry leaders in all parts of the developing world. These are described, analysed and illustrated by many rich examples in order to demonstrate how they work, and to extract lessons and applications for others to adapt. The book builds on the deep experience of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) in agricultural development and finance This book is essential reading for agribusiness leaders and technical staff, bankers and cooperative leaders working in agriculture, NGO and microfinance development practitioners, researchers and policy makers. Published in association with FAO.

"The Study Guide to Accompany Managerial Economics, Third Edition" provides students with the homework drill necessary to fully understand and apply concepts covered in the textbook "Managerial Economics, " Third Edition.
Contains multiple choice questions to guide students through their development of crucial graphing and algebraic skills
Builds student vocabulary needed to succeed in the subject
Fully explicated solutions are provided for each question
Extensive online resources are available at http: //www.comp.nus.edu.sg/ ipng/mecon.htm including updates to the book, PowerPoint slides, an Instructor's Manual, and answers to discussion questions
A wiki site linked at http: //polar.alaskapacific.edu/dlehman provides additional examples as well as contributions from readers and instructors