Private medical practice is an attractive option for career development. In the United Kingdom it forms a significant industry, yet little has been done to assist medical consultants in managing their businesses. This book gives clear advice to all medical practitioners on both business management and performance. It outlines ways to improve financial performance and economic efficiency in a constantly changing market. It reveals some of the 'secrets' of the successful business professional, and relates business management theories and techniques to real day-to-day problems. Written by a practising accountant and business advisor, this book provides help with finance, banking, taxation, staffing, marketing, medical insurance companies, and business planning, and considers future developments. It is essential for all those contemplating or currently working in private medical practice, and valuable to business, legal and financial professionals servicing this field.

Fact: Barings was an excellent company, with professional managers. Their careers were devastated by fraud. How many other managers are now in the same position without knowing it? Fact: The average company loses between 2 per cent and 5 per cent of its turnover as a result of dishonesty. When Mike Comer's book first appeared it quickly established itself worldwide as the standard work in its field. This third edition is a radical revision reflecting the world of EDI, electronic commerce, derivatives, computerization, empowerment, downsizing and other recent developments. Ironically, many of these have exposed companies to an alarming range of new risks. With the help of real-life case histories the author identifies the main types of fraud, the circumstances in which they occur and the telltale signs that give them away. He examines internal control systems and the attitudes and practices that allow fraud to flourish. He explains in detail how fraud can be prevented and detected, and shows why it is that many fashionable management techniques can also potentially pave the way to corporate disaster.

At a time when traditional funding is diminishing and costs increasing, the need to look to new external sources of money is now central to survival for many organizations. New avenues of funding often demand a new outlook, and old ways of thinking can prove to be barriers to success. This book looks not only at methods for raising funds, providing practical steps in preparing for new funding initiatives, but also at the attitudes and mind-sets that form part of the whole picture. The volume is concise and accessible, with plans of action, bullet lists and diagrams for ease of consultation.

Ten years in discussion and development, Total Capacity Management provides the most complete overview of the history and techniques of capacity cost management-a timely, yet timeless, issue applicable to both capital-intensive and labor-intensive organizations.

Through explanations of various capacity cost management models, executives and managers can create the most appropriate model for their organization's distinct needs.
Total Capacity Management shows the way for companies and managers to gain and maintain an exceptional competitive edge.

This text is part of a practical tool-kit designed to help managers take control of their budgets. It should enable managers to understand the reports from management accounts and to know what to expect or demand from them. It has been exclusively developed to suit the specific needs of the NHS.

Since the start of the 1980's there has been a significant rise in the number of forms of collaborative pressures in the global market-place. One form of collaboration is Corporate Venture Capital Investment, or Corporate Venturing. This involves large, non-financial companies taking minority equity stakes in small unquoted firms, and can be beneficial for both parties. The levels of corporate venturing are, however, reportedly low in the UK, particularly when compared to levels in the USA. This volume addresses the lack of academic and practical research into corporate venturing by examining the role of this activity as both a form of large firm-small firm collaboration and as an alternative source of equity finance for small firms. These issues are explored through surveys of independent fund managers, corporate executives and technology-based firm directors. The author finds corporate venturing to be a valuable source of equity finance for early stage, technology-based firms, as well as for the institutional venture capital funds which specialize in investing in such ventures. Implications for both academic theorists and practitioners are considered.

What would happen if everyone in your company followed a disciplined approach to cost reduction? Go ahead -- imagine it. What would it look like? How can it be done?
The answer -- smart cost management.
Effective cost management must start at the design stage. As much as 90-95% of a product's costs are added in the design process. That is why effective cost management programs focus on design and manufacturing. The primary cost management method to control cost during design is a combination of target costing and value engineering.

Target Costing Objectives:

1. Identify the cost at which your product must be manufactured at if it is to earn its profit margin at its expected target selling price.
2. Break the target cost down to its component level and have your suppliers find ways to deliver the components they sell you at the set target prices while still making adequate returns.

Value Engineering:
"The connection to function: "An organized effort and team based approach to analyze the functions of goods and services that the design stage, and find ways to achieve those functions in a manner that allows the firm to meet its target costs.
"The result: "Added value for your company (development costs on-line with added value for your company; development costs on-line with selling prices) and added value for your customer (higher quality products that meet, possibly even exceed, customer expectations.)

Since the 1970s, the practice of financing major private and public sector capital-intensive projects has shifted to an ever-greater reliance on private funding sources, as opposed to direct financing through the issuance of corporate or government bonds. In the 1990s, these financing practices have undergone further changes with the increasing globalization of capital markets, the growth of derivative instruments, and the rapid increase in information technology that enhances cash-management practices. Today's project financing market is increasingly using sophisticated capital market, bank and agency financing mechanisms as well as using derivative instruments for asset and liability management. Thus, financial market innovations are bringing the once separate fields of project financing and international finance more closely together. This is the first book to treat both topics as an interrelated whole, for contemporary project financing cannot be fully understood without a good working knowledge of the international financial markets that have developed the various financing techniques and funding sources being used. The book provides an in-depth description of cross-border project financing as a technique for financing capital-intensive projects, as well as an overview of certain financing and derivative instruments currently available in the global financial markets. The first part of the book provides an overview of certain funding and derivative instruments currently used in the international financial markets, including a general overview of financial innovations that have occurred in recent decades. Topics covered include an introduction to the syndicated Euro-credit market; an overview of various marketable debt securities actively used in the international financial markets; an introduction to depositary receipt as an innovative way of raising cross-border equity capital; an elaboration of the derivative instruments most commonly used in the project financing arena, including interest rate, currency and commodity swaps; and finally an overview of banks' off-balance sheet activities as a critical driving force for the participation of banks in the international financial and derivative markets. The second part of the book provides an in-depth analysis of project financing that concentrates on the financier's perspective. Topics covered include a general overview of the project financing industry; a step-by-step description of a typical cross-border project finance transaction; a description of the main characteristics and advantages of project financing as opposed to more traditional corporate lending practices; an overview of appraisal techniques for assessing project financing; a comprehensive analysis of the different risk management techniques used in project financing for reducing, distributing and hedging risks; and a brief overview of certain limited-resource financing schemes. The book includes a special focus on the various stages of the risk management process for project financing, elaborating on the different stages of risk identification, risk assessment, risk reduction, risk distribution and hedging and insurance. The authors also provide a comprehensive glossary of terms relating to international finance and project financing. This book will fulfill the need for an essential text on project financing as well as a professional reference guide.

Thrive in a changing industry by putting your people first Advisory Leadership is a practical and highly executable guide for financial advisors and finance professionals looking to thrive in today's changing financial services industry. Written by a leading financial advisor with practice improvement expertise, this book shows you how to master the art of leadership while remaining agile and adaptable. You'll learn the seven steps you must take to keep pace and thrive amidst the industry's evolution, with clearly articulated explanations and motivational action items. The discussion covers patience, integrity, compassion, respect, consistency, encouragement, and courage the foundations of success and continued growth and shows you how to practice what you preach with real strategies for living the vision and being a true leader. The financial services industry is at a crossroads, between a generation on the cusp of retirement and the new generation stepping in to take its place. This transition has been called a crisis of culture, of values, and of communication, but it's really an opportunity. This book faces the changes head-on, and delivers practical solutions that start and end with your greatest resource your people. * Unlock the secrets to a people-first company * Speak openly, walk the walk, and promote personal growth * Reward firm-wide collaboration and a team mentality * Reshape your company's DNA to thrive in today's financial environment The industry's overarching question is one of differentiation: how can your firm stand out amid the rise of robo-solutions and an unpredictable future? Advisory Leadership shows you how a people-focused company culture can elevate a firm from surviving to thriving.

Rationalization is concerned with making the most effective use of the resources available. In many places where this process is taking place it is plagued with public opposition and misunderstanding. Hitherto, rationalization in the acute care sector has primarily been concerned with closing sites, closing beds, moving beds between services, and moving beds from one site to another. This book discusses the need for rationalization in the context of health service reforms and future strategy. It considers recent changes in the health service, the case for rationalization, health care needs, the role of public relations, the future of the acute care hospital, site and facilities appraisal, and the costs of rationalization. The text is essential reading for managers and clinicians involved in acute care services, non-executive members of boards and trusts, and students of health services management.

Bridging the gap between the quantitative viewpoint of management science and the practical, day-to-day needs of project cost management, this well-balanced reference/text offers comprehensive coverage of an integrated cost management program. Emphasizing a systematic approach to cost control, Cost Management of Capital Projects presents the use of method study techniques to increase the effectiveness of procedures and improve the productivity of resources...addresses risk management...describes the planning phase of capital projects and demonstrates how scheduling and cost estimating are used to monitor performance...pinpoints methods to identify misleading information that may enter the system...defines productivity and production...outlines a system that measures performance against predetermined standards...explains how to control performance...and much more. Written by an acknowledged expert in both the industrial and academic aspects of the discipline, Cost Management of Capital Projects is an indispensable reference for cost engineers; and engineering, construction, and project managers; as well as an incomparable text for all upper-level undergraduate, graduate, and continuing-education students in business and engineering.

An honest assessment for how to determine your individual relationship with charitable giving in today's world

From world-renowned philanthropists Charles Bronfman and Jeffrey Solomon of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies comes a comprehensive guide on how to be a canny, street-smart, effective philanthropist, regardless of your income level. It is also a perfect companion for nonprofit program and development executives who would like to introduce donors to their work and their organizations.

Despite their critical importance to philanthropy, donors have few resources for solid information about making their gifts-deciding what type of gift to give, how to structure it, the tax implications, what level of follow-up and transparency they should ask for and expect, and countless other complexities. This book fills that vacuum and helps you gain a special understanding of philanthropy as a business undertaking as well as a deeply personal, reflective process.

Drawing on decades of experience, the authors offer a fresh, enlivening approach to the nonprofit enterprise that, too often, is undervalued and thought of as the province of the burnt-out and the overwhelmed. Along with its many candid insights and memorable anecdotes, "The Art of Giving" also offers instruction on how to create a business plan for giving that works for you.

Originally published in 1976, this book discusses the management skills needed to evaluate, implement and control computer-based operation. Every chapter contains detailed check lists which guide the reader to formulate policies to deal with real situations. It provides a practical look at an indispensable tool of management, with a set of guidelines to help get the most out of the available technology.

Managerial decisions are considerably influenced by taxes: e.g. the choice of location, buying or leasing decisions, or the proper mix of debt and equity in the company's capital structure increasingly demand qualified employees in an economic environment that is becoming more and more complex. Due to the worldwide economic integration and constant changes in tax legislation, companies are faced with new challenges - and the need for information and advice is growing accordingly. This book's goal is to identify and quantify possible tax effects on companies' investment strategies and financing policies. It does not focus on details of tax law, but instead seeks to address students and practitioners focusing on corporate finance, accounting, investment banking and strategy consulting.

The power of purchasers exposes the weaknesses of conventional thinking on the costs and benefits of priorities. Health policy analysts now have to develop rational criteria to support decisions in a process which may be inherently intuitive. This authoritative and practical text points the way towards clear choices in resource allocation and the implications of these choices on expenditure diverted among different health care programmes.

This work focuses on the application of fundamental cost engineering principles to the capital and operating costs estimation of major projects. It provides detailed coverage of profitability, risk, and sensitivity analysis. This third edition: discusses novel strategies for calculating preliminary estimates using MasterFormat; presents new information on estimating the retrofitting and extension of existing plants; contains current international cost data; and more.;A solutions manual is available to instructors only.

In every developed country, health care managers, clinicians, purchasers and providers are having to extract greater output from cash-limited resources. This book reviews a wide range of areas of current concern together with the practical experience of those responsible for improvement and change. The opportunities and pitfalls they identify should stimulate innovation and fresh ideas in those faced with similar situations.

A convenient and up-to-date reference tool for today's financial and nonfinancial managers in public practice and private industry

If the very thought of budgets pushes your sanity over the limit, then this practical, easy-to-use guide is just what you need. "Budgeting Basics and Beyond, Fourth Edition" equips you with an all-in-one resource guaranteed to make the budgeting process easier, less stressful, and more effective. The new edition covers rolling budgets (forecasts), activity-based budgeting, life-cycle budgeting. Cloud computing, Balanced Scorecard, budgeting for nonprofit organizations, business simulations for executive and management training, and much more Includes several new software packages, computer-based models and spreadsheet applications, including Value Chain Management software, Financial Planning and Performance software, Web 2.0, Cloud computing, and capital budgeting softwareFeatures case studies, illustrations, exhibits, forms, checklists, graphs, samples, and worked-out solutions to a wide variety of budgeting, planning, and control problemsOffers financial planning and new types of financial modeling, variance analysis, Web-based budgeting, active budgeting illuminating "what-if" analyses throughout, spreadsheet applications, break-even analysis, project analysis, and capital budgeting

"Budgeting Basics and Beyond, Fourth Edition" is a practical, easy-to-use problem-solver and up-to-date reference tool for today's financial and nonfinancial managers in public practice and private industry.

The training and culture of dental practice is based on clinical treatment and patient care. However in order to run their practices efficiently dentists and their staff must have business acumen and knowledge for which most are unprepared. This clear and authoritative guide presents the facts of practice finance explains how practice income can be maximised through its various sources and identifies the pitfalls and opportunities for further development. The 'New Contract' and reforms to the NHS system emphasize the need for the dental profession to respond effectively to the changed environment and this concise and comprehensive reference has been designed to meet this need.

Authors have attempted to create coherent chapters and sections on how the fundamentals of maintenance cost should be organized, to present them in a logical and sequential order. Necessarily, the text starts with importance of maintenance function in the organization and moves to life cycle cost (LCC) considerations followed by the budgeting constraints. In the process, they have intentionally postponed the discussion about intangible costs and downtime costs later on in the book mainly due to the controversial part of it when arguing with managers. The book will be concluding with a short description of a number of sectors where maintenance cost is of critical importance. The goal is to train the readers for a deeper study and understanding of these elements for decision making in maintenance, more specifically in the context of asset management. This book is intended for managers, engineers, researchers, and practitioners, directly or indirectly involved in the area of maintenance. The book is focused to contribute towards better understanding of maintenance cost and use of this knowledge to improve the maintenance process. Key Features: * Emphasis on maintenance cost and life cycle cost especially under uncertainty. * Systematic approach of how cost models can be applied and used in the maintenance field. * Compiles and reviews existing maintenance cost models. * Consequential and direct costs considered. * Comparison of maintenance costs in different sectors, infrastructure, manufacturing, transport.

Arms investors with powerful new tools for measuring and managing the risks associated with the various illiquid asset classes With risk-free interest rates and risk premiums at record lows, many investors are turning to illiquid assets, such as real estate, private equity, infrastructure and timber, in search of superior returns and greater portfolio diversity. But as many analysts, investors and wealth managers are discovering, such investments bring with them a unique set of risks that cannot be measured by standard asset allocation models. Written by a dream team of globally renowned experts in the field, this book provides a clear, accessible overview of illiquid fund investments, focusing on what the main risks of these asset classes are and how to measure those risks in today's regulatory environment. * Provides solutions for institutional investors in need of guidance in today's regulatory environment * Offers detailed descriptions of risk measurement in illiquid asset classes, illustrated with real life case studies * Helps you to develop reliable risk management tools while complying with the regulations designed to contain the individual and systemic risks arising from illiquid investments * Features real-life case studies that capture an array of risk management scenarios you are likely to encounter

This book presents case material on modern small business enterprises, in the form of profiles. These are constructed on a consistent basis for 17 small firms, and use a contemporary framework drawn from business strategy and industrial organization. Each profile is designed to show how an entrepreneur has tried to achieve a competitive advantage in the market-place by fighting against "extended rivalry", market competitors, buyers, suppliers, substitutes and potential entrants. As well as looking at comprehensive and defensive strategies, the book extends analysis to financial structure, including discussion of reasons for cash flow problems and problems associated with excessive "gearing". A comparative analysis of the profiles, grouped according to the degree of market concentration and associated market structure, enables new conclusions to be reached about resources of competitive advantage. The authors bring varied insight from managerial economics, industrial organization and small firms' consultancy. Their criterion was that the analysis should always be well-grounded in the reality of small business existence.

Essentials of Modeling and Analytics illustrates how and why analytics can be used effectively by loss prevention staff. The book offers an in-depth overview of analytics, first illustrating how analytics are used to solve business problems, then exploring the tools and training that staff will need in order to engage solutions. The text also covers big data analytical tools and discusses if and when they are right for retail loss prevention professionals, and illustrates how to use analytics to test the effectiveness of loss prevention initiatives. Ideal for loss prevention personnel on all levels, this book can also be used for loss prevention analytics courses. Essentials of Modeling and Analytics was named one of the best Analytics books of all time by BookAuthority, one of the world's leading independent sites for nonfiction book recommendations.

1. The Origins and Purposes of Accounting and Budgeting.

2. Accounting and Budgeting Systems in Public and Nonprofit Organizations.

3. The First two A's of Budgeting: Approval and Adoption.

4. The Third A: Allocation.

5. Making a Budgeting System Work.

6. Understanding the Language of Accounting.

7. Tracking Financial Information: Core Accounting Processes.

8. Understanding Financial Statements.

9. Integrating Accounting and Budgeting Systems for Better Managerial Control.

10. Linking Past, Present, and Future Through Adjustments.

11. Conducting Manager Audits and Analysis.