Book Description
The U.S. government began standardizing and regulating financial reporting in 1929 when the stock market crash made it painfully clear that businesses often made absurd claims and that investors were either gullible, unable to verify information, or both. Now, financial reports are used by a company’s management to measure profitability (or lack of it), optimize operations and guide the company, by banks and other lenders to gauge the company’s financial health, and by institutional or individual investors interested in purchasing stock.
Unless you’re financially savvy, annual reports with all those figures, frustrating footnotes, and fine print are boring and intimidating. However, once you have a fundamental knowledge of finance and its basic terminology, you can find the juicy parts. Reading Financial Reports For Dummies by Lita Epstein, a teacher of online financial courses and author of Trading for Dummies, gets you up to speed so you can:
- Go past the prose that can maximize the positive and minimize the negative and get information in dollars and cents
- Get an overview from the big three—the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows
- Understand the lingo and read between the lines
- Calculate basics like PE, Dividend Payout Ratio, ROS, ROA, ROE, Operating Margin, and Net Margin
It pays for investors to be somewhat skeptical instead of gullible. Pressured to please Wall Street, companies are sometimes tempted to use “creative” accounting. You’ll discover how to:
- Detect red flags (that, unfortunately, aren’t emphasized in red) such as lawsuits, changes in accounting methods, and obligations to retirees and future retirees
- Understand the different reporting requirements for public companies and private companies with various types of business structures
- Analyze a company’s cash flow, a prime indicator of its financial health
- Scrutinize deals such as mergers, acquisitions, liquidations and other major changes in key assets
Organized so you can start where you’re comfortable and proceed at your own pace, Reading Financial Reports for Dummies helps managers prepare annual reports and use financial reporting to budget more efficiently and helps investors base their decisions on knowledge instead of hype. Whether you’re in business or in the stock market, knowledge is always an asset.
Customer Reviews:
Even Better Than I Had Hoped..........2007-07-14
I've never taken the time to leave feedback about any books I buy, but this book I really got a lot out of, and highly recommend.
Although the description of the book seems to mostly focus on reading financial reports in order to evaluate companies you might want to invest in by buying stock, I bought the book because I wanted to be much more comfortable with reading - moreover analyzing and understanding - financial statements for business management purposes.
Boy, I was NOT disappointed! By reading the book and constantly referring to the financial statements of 2 companies (Mattel and Hasbro), and interpreting, analyzing and comparing the numbers, I have really learned quite a lot about how to manage by the numbers. Now, when I look at financial statements, I know what every line means, I know what I'm looking for, how to interpret the numbers and changes in the numbers and/or ratios over time - I'm truly just as pleased as punch! This book is worth every penny you pay for it.
And, because the author also tosses in a lot of revealing and useful information about analyzing financial statements to evaluate a company and the worth of its stock, I received quite an education there as well. Very eye opening.
Whether you're a business owner, manager, accountant or stock investor, if you're even considering getting this book to enhance your knowledge, get it. It's a very, very good book. I kept a highlighter and some post it notes at my side, you may want to do the same. In any event, after reading this book (which, by the way is NOT a 'dry' read) you will have deep knowledge of financial statements - balance sheet, profit and loss (income statement) and cash flow statement.
I highly recommend this book.
Learn to examine financial statements more effectively and efficiently........2007-05-28
I am a lawyer in technology, entertainment and corporate law. I bought this book for one of my children who is an undergraduate business major. After buying the book, I ended up reading the book myself. It helps the reader to review financial statements much more effectively and efficiently. It's the best book I've seen on the topic. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand what to look for and beware of in financial reports.
Excellent value ... just buy it!.......2007-03-25
I recently had to take a week long seminar about financial statements and didn't want to go in cold turkey and possibly embarass myself ... so I bought three books thru Amazon to help me learn about financial statements, this one being the most comprehensive.
I'll make this short and sweet ... this was an excellent book by any standard ... the other two books were brief and excellent overviews, but I'd have to judge Lita's (author) book as superb.
It was as if I learned detail from a text book (factual substance), but then had her sitting beside me saying ... ok, you know such and such, now this is how it really works, or this is how you apply it, or this is what it means, or this is what you need to do next, or these are the tricks of the trade only insiders know, etc. Plus her 10 real world discussions of what went wrong with certain corporations ... Enron, WorldCom/MCI, Tyco, etc., are very interesting reads.
For instance, she tells you how to go about listening to a call between analysts and corporate executives, which honestly I did not know you could do. It's this added perspective of an experienced insider's knowledge of the business that puts her above the rest ... and this being a 362 page book, which I read cover to cover, there are plenty of these types of examples.
For anyone who is not well versed in this subject matter, but WANTS to learn about it, quit pondering the purchase and just buy the book. It is money well spent ... I guarantee it.
Oh, and by the way, Lita dedicates the book to her father, who was an auditor and savings and loan examiner ... so you know she was taught plenty by ole Dad ... this stuff was in her blood from the get go, and she communicates her extensive knowledge very well.
I sincerely congratulate her on such a fine work. I enjoyed it immensely! Thank you Lita ... Jim
opening the pandora s box.......2007-02-09
reading financial report for me before is just like reading numbers but reading this book is it s not just only reading but also analyzing and decoding the numbers found in the financial reports..The authors use laymans term in order that the reader can understand the different accounting jargons.it is just __knowing yourself and knowing your investments... this book is a must for a serious investor and this book is intended for a defenceless investor who have no knowledge in checking the financial health of the company.
Reading Financial Reports for Dummies.......2007-01-10
If you know nothing about Financial Reports, this is the book for you. Everything is written in terms that you can understand without being a Chief Financial Officer.
I would highly recommend this book for anyone, whether it be career-related or for personal financial review of annual reports, insurance, etc.
Book Description
Finally, a resourceful and unique primer on financial statements that uses a creative and different approach to explain every kind of financial report a small business owner or manager needs to succeed. Through an unique visual approach, this book leads users to a clear understanding of how business scores are kept and how to interpret the results.From balance sheets, cash flow statements and income statements, learn how to understand the basic elements that will pave the way to achieving financial success.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-09-10
I'm in an MBA program and have had numerous undergraduate accounting classes. This book is fantastic. It is FAR superior to "How To Read A Financial Report" by John Tracy. "Financial Statements: A Step-By-Step Guide to Understanding and Creating Financial Reports" by Thomas R. Ittelson is clear and concise. It's the best book I've found on the subject. I highly recommend it!
A Sound Basic Review of Financials.......2007-09-07
A sound review of what I learned almost 40 years ago and have not used in about 25 years. Brought back what I learned and used years ago.
Clear, simple and extremly useful.......2007-07-19
For the person who buys stocks, this book is an absolute must. Ittelson's writing is clear and gets to the point. By the end, you will have a very good understanding of financial statements. I got interested in this book as an investor and I am very pleased with my time investment in reading this book.
Worst book I have bought yet.......2007-06-11
I bought 3 books, the one I am reviewing, "Reading Financial Reports For Dummies", and "Guide to Understanding Financial Statements". This book gives no information for beginners who are trying to learn how to understand financial statements. I read all 3 books twice, and I didn't get anything...and I mean nothing from this book. The other two were very well written. Reading Financial Reports For Dummies and The Guide to Understanding Financial Statements. I suggest not wasting your money on this book. It is basically a lot of numbers with very little explanation. It is also confusing because the definitions are different and there is no explanation why they defintions change when reading a financial report.
Good for beginners.......2007-06-07
This book would be an excellent supplement to a beginning accounting class. The author explains the material so that it is very easy to understand.
But if you've taken intermediate or advanced accounting classes, don't waste your money. There isn't anything new in this small book. It doesn't cover all areas of accounting and the areas that are covered are not in-depth. Example: There is a brief mention of straight-line deprection but nothing about salvage value and no mention about the other depreciation methods.
Average customer rating:
- An excellent valuation book that should be well known by a wider audience
- Ground Up Valuation Techniques
- An ideal introduction to company valuation
- A Solid Introductory Valuation Text
- Fantastic book
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Corporate Finance: A Valuation Approach
Simon Z. Benninga , and
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Principles of Finance with Excel: Includes CD
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ASIN: 0070050996 |
Book Description
Designed for courses in corporate finance, this text is a detailed description of the valuation process, providing an integrated, comprehensive method for valuing assets, firms, and securities across a wide variety of industries. The presentation begins with a review of financial and accounting techniques, proceeds with a presentation of the valuation process, leading towards the development of pro-forma financial statements and the translation of these projections into values. A key strength of this text is teaching students how to use pro forma financial statements as a basis for valuation.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent valuation book that should be well known by a wider audience.......2007-02-08
Simon Benninga's and Oded Sarig's "Corporate Finance: A Valuation Approach" (CFaVA) is one of those secret texts that true insiders cherish while other less efficient or significant works capture limelight.
"CFaVA" is comparable to the McKinsey group authors Koller, Goedhart, Wessels's "Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies" and also Aswath Damodaran's "Investment Valuation: Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of Any Asset" [Full disclosure: I've taught graduate Corporate Valuation with both texts].
Benninga and Sarig's work is excellent because it is lean while not oversimplified. The key chapter of estimating discount rates is the finest one-chapter treatment of the subject I've seen in my career, and should be required reading for any M&A or LBO banker or PE associate. The chapter on valuing by multiples is also useful for relative value and comparative scenarios for deal-makers.
Chapter 12 covers convertible securities, and it would be unfair to say it is bad simply because it is compressed and incomplete (entire libraries have been written on the subject of convertible bond valuation), but also appears out of place in the content of the book until you realize that the random elements of a stock price going forward in time intersect with capital structure choices and enterprise value, so the connection and recursive element of valuation is made at once explicit with an example.
An excellent book that should be well known by a wider audience.
Ground Up Valuation Techniques.......2002-01-18
If you are new to corporate finance valuation this book will take you to the next level. Provides step by step instruction on how to value companies. Covers Excel techniques with easy to follow examples. Covers 1 full semester at most business schools.
An ideal introduction to company valuation.......2001-09-21
This book offers a very simple introduction to evaluation of companies prior to investing. The DCF method is primarily used. There is a common thread running through the chapters which makes the book easy to understand. Its not verbose, which adds to its attractiveness. But, the readers should remember that this is only an introduction, and some other advanced book like Copeland's is needed to build upon the ideas presented in the book.
A Solid Introductory Valuation Text.......2000-12-18
This book does a good job of logically explaining the step-by-step method of corporate valuation. Benninga and Sarig do a good job of focusing on the practical tools of finance. I only wish the DCF examples were less simplistic. A substantial amount of additional work is needed to apply these models to real world firms.
Fantastic book.......2000-05-22
This book serves as an excellent introduction to and/or refresher on valuation techniques. The entire valuation process (primarily DCF) is broken down into a series of steps, each of which gets its own complete chapter. Each chapter is well written and builds on its predecessors.
A particular strength of the book is the authors' reference to Excel functions and which ones are useful in valuation models. This book is not just theory; there are concrete "how to" examples throughout. Once you've finished this book, you can do more than cite valuation theory: you can build valuation models.
One of the best finance books I've ever read.
Book Description
A supplementary text for a variety of Business courses, including Financial Statement Analysis, Principles of Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Investments, Personal Finance, and Financial Planning and Analysis.
Understanding Financial Statements, retains its reputation for readability, concise coverage, and accessibility while incorporating the many new requirements and changes in accounting reporting and standards. The text gives students the conceptual background and analytical tools necessary to understand and interpret business financial statements. Its ultimate goal is to improve students' ability to translate financial statement numbers into a meaningful map for business decisions and thus enable each student to approach financial statements with enhanced confidence.
Customer Reviews:
Understanding financial statements.......2007-09-26
Great book for learning accounting for the novice. Easy to understand and the problems and discussion help the learning process.
Just as advertised.......2007-09-23
I bought this book for school. It is an easy to read, comprehensive guide to understanding what goes into financial statements.
exact product at an affordable price w a smooth transaction.......2007-05-14
exact product at an affordable price w a smooth transaction
You'll keep this close to your side for years to come..........2006-02-09
I purchased the fifth edition of this book back in 1997 and still have it. I work through it, from start to finish, every three months in order to keep myself fresh and thoroughly knowledgeable about income statements, balance sheets, and cash flows. The exercises are challenging enough to require you to do a little extra research and thinking on your own, i.e., not everything in the questions can be answered by consulting the book. IMPORTANT NOTE TO PROSPECTIVE PURCHASERS OF THIS BOOK: You will have difficulty thoroughly understanding this material unless you have at least a year of financial accounting coursework under your belt. Although I already had 8 accounting courses under my belt by the time I purchased this book, it helped me understand financials like I had never understood them before. A very useful text for those interested in the analysis of, particularly, the income statement and the balance sheet.
Most confusing, wordy textbook I have ever used.......2005-10-02
I am in a graduate program and this is the first time in 16 years of education that I have ever come across such a poorly written textbook! As a previous rater stated, "The presentation of the content assumes that the reader has some knowledge of this content area and at times leaves him/her confused as to what was discussed, making it difficult to understand. Examples that are used are often incomplete and do not provide a complete picture of how statements are generated." I second his sentiment, "Too bad I could not give it zero stars." I would love to contact these individuals and their publisher and recommend they never write again. I need a book I can use again and again when my class is finished, not one I would sooner burn.
Book Description
Completely Updated, Over 200,000 Copies Sold!
"A 'how-to' guide for corporate executives who want to get at the unrealized shareholder values trapped in public companies." -New York Times
THE #1 guide TO CORPORATE VALUATION IS NOW BETTER THAN EVER!
"The book's clarity and comprehensive coverage make it one ofthe best practitioners' guides to valuation." -Financial Times
"Should serve very well the professional manager who wants to do some serious thinking about what really does contribute value to his or her firm and why." -The Journal of Finance
"Valuation is like a Swiss army knife . . . you will be prepared for just about any contingency." -Martin H. Dubilier, Chairman of the Board, Clayton & Dubilier, Inc.
"This book on valuation represents fresh new thinking. The writing is clear and direct, combining the best academic principles with actual experience to arrive at value-increasing solutions." -J. Fred Weston, cordner Professor of Money and Financial Markets, Graduate School of Management, UCLA
System Requirements:
Pentium II PC or greater
Windows 98 or later
128MB RAM
20MB Hard Disk Space
Excel 97 / 2000 (Alone or part of Office 97 / 2000) w/Report Manager & Analysis ToolPak installed and enabled.
(
Note: Formulas & Computations are not guaranteed in later versions of Excel)
Video Display: 800 x 600 recommended
Customer Reviews:
Good intro but that is it.......2007-08-03
This is a good intro to give the basics of valuation for "old economy" businesses. It determines the valuation of companies based almost exclusively on their cash flow over the previous few years to the analysis. Unfortunately it ignores too many issues that play an extremely important role in valuation. For example, the quality, background, knowledge of management, the products the company manufactures, the markets for these products, macroeconomic conditions, intellectual property, market position (i.e., oligopolistic? Is entry/exit difficult in the industry?). Not one of these issues is even touched upon!!! The authors seem to be implying that these issues are irrelevant!! Only the cash flow over the previous few years applied forward (i.e., discounted for present value) matters according to the book!!! Perhaps this type of mentality explains why the overwhelming majority of mergers and acquistions fail!!!!
Nothing spectacular.......2006-04-03
Unfortunately, for all the name brand that this book conveys, I think the cover seems to be the most intriguing part. There are much better ways for book peddling and the fact that a firm such as McKinsey allowed their name on the title of a book for the sake of a few sales, boggles this readers mind. The subject matter seems to be along the lines of the bull session with all bull and no session. No actual quantitative analysis is used throughout the book, and if anything more than an encyclopedic definition is learned from this book, I would be astounded. Save some money and go search online for some basic books on beginning valuation. By the way, those giving 5 stars either can't read English very well or are shills for McKinsey.
Waste of Time.......2005-04-12
Any book by Damodaran is far better for business managers and portfolio managers.
For portfolio managers, estimating the cash-flows is a small part of the valuation process, the easiest. As the financial field and practice is becoming more and more quantitative, the cutting edge of asset pricing is to estimate time-varying risk premiums. Actually, almost 90% of variation in stock prices come from risk shifts, not from news on company cash-flows.
If you are interested in asset pricing i would suggest a mix of damodaran (20%) and "Asset Pricing" by John Cochrane (80%).
Good but bad Excel support.......2004-01-29
I liked this book. In Russia it is one of the most popular books on valuatuion. But when I can get the perfect excel support for Investment Valuation by Aswath Damodaran or good web support for Valuation Methods and Shareholder Value Creation by Pablo Fernandez, I ask the authors, why don't they put supporting material in disk? I think that the price of their sowtware ($94.50) is too high compairing with the book ($56 with discount), because there is no supporting materials - only 1 spreadsheet (from my point of view does not conform to McKinsey, as the leader of consulting business). I hope, for the 4-th edition we will have a good excel support.
User-unfriendliness at its best.......2003-01-11
Hmm I wonder if those giving this book five stars actually work for McKinsey. As a practioner, I don't know anyone in the industry who has actually read this book. It looks impressive on the bookshelf, but the content is anything but impressive. A lot of topics are covered, but each one only superficially and the writing is extremely dry and boring. I actually found reading this volume *painful*, and I'm supposed to like this stuff since I do it for a living! My advice for any potential buyer is read a few chapters first before you shell out for it.
Customer Reviews:
Ensure that the CD is included.......2007-09-19
The book description does not say that the book should come with a CD - which is integral to the product.
The book is easy to read and up to date for when it was written; very practical.
Good reference for valuating companies using financial statements.......2007-07-04
I used this book in two "Business Analysis using Financial Statements" financial accounting classes and found it to be useful the few times I needed to use it as a reference.
The text represents what I think is a fair mix of both accounting (the reading and interpretation of financial statements) and finance (the valuation) perspectives. It contains more or less what I would have expected from a book with "A Valuation Approach" in the title: multiples, various valuation models (DCF, APV, etc), etc. But it's technically an accounting book in my mind, so it also contains examples for all of the major topics that it covers using 10-Ks, 10-Qs, and other SEC statements as examples.
Book Description
Turn financial statements into powerful allies in your decision making
Whether you're an investor, creditor, consultant, regulator, manager-or an employee concerned about your company's well-being and the stability of your job-the ability to successfully interpret and analyze financial statements gives you a leg up in today's rough-and-tumble marketplace. Analysis of Financial Statements, Fifth Edition, by Leopold A. Bernstein and John J. Wild, gives you every practical, up-to-date method for making the data in financial statements clear and meaningful. You get analytical tools that range from computation of ratio and cash flow measures to earnings prediction and valuation as you learn how to reconstruct the economic reality embedded in financial statements. User-friendly and engaging, this hands-on classic is loaded with graphs, charts, and tables, so you can see how topics relate to the business practices of actual companies. A concluding comprehensive case analysis of the Campbell Soup Company gives shape and color to the author's step-by-step lessons.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best I've read.......2006-03-17
I am not a CPA or Finance major. I am a physicist so the math is not intimidating. I have been investing as an amateur since retirement and this book gives solid and easily understood ways to get at the valuation of a company and its stock by investigating the financial statements. There is a good comprehensive case study at the end of the book, but I wish the authors would give more examples either within or at the end of each chapter.
Informative, but hard to read.......2003-07-08
I did not finish this book because it is written in a very academic and hard to grasp language. Authors, please make your sentences a little shorter and simpler, the book is very boring and verbose! However, I must give credit to the authors for including almost all of the tools one will need for analysis of financial statements.
Each edition of this book just gets better and better!.......2000-06-03
I have bought every edition of this book, and it just keeps getting better and better. As a 25 year veteran of corporate finance, I continue to use this book myself on a regular basis and to recommend it to less experienced employees who are still developing their expertise. Every finance library should have this book.
Book Description
When partnerships change hands, the valuation of intangible assets can be a financial maze. This in-depth book, working through each of the basic valuation approaches: cost, market, and income, provides professionals with complete guidelines and industry standards. It's a must-have for financial analysts and attorneys!
Download Description
The one-volume intangible valuation library--from trusted authorities Robert Reilly and Robert Schweihs.
Customer Reviews:
A practical primer.......2003-04-10
For those who are interested in the management of organizational knowledge and intangible assets, 'Valuing intangible assets'should prove to be highly practical. There are many knowledge management frameworks out there that assist business executive to manage their intangible assets (such as Sveiby's intangible asset monitor), the practical usage of these frameworks would be greatly enhanced by incorporating the valuation aspect of intangible assets. Reilly has provided a comprehensive illustration of both the 'scientific' & 'artistic' aspects of valuating intangible assets. 'Valuing Intangible Assets' is easy to read & loaded with useful examples, it is a rare one in the market.
Recommend Purchase!.......2002-08-13
A larger portion of the value of a company nowadays comes from Intangibles (brands, patents, workforce & related contracts, durable customers etc.). This holds true in several industry sectors. Measurement of intangibles is a fascinating subject, but until this book was published, there was no single body of knowledge available to guide the general reader, or a Valuation professional. You had to work in one of the reputed valuation firms to be exposed to the techniques. This book is by far the best practitioner-oriented Intangibles Valuation book I have come across. It is very comprehensive in terms of the topics it covers, and does a wonderful job of covering almost all intangibles of interest. Each chapter is written by a relevant expert, and this invariably leads to variations in quality and some lack of consistency. However, for the most part, it is very well written, and definitely worth the price it sells for.
Great Reference Book.......2001-12-31
A great book for anyone or performs valuations of intangible assets or wants to learn how. I believe that this book will become to intangible valuation what Pratt's book is to business valuation.
A complete manual of intangible valuation methods.......2000-08-28
The authors rely on their extensive professional experiences in this field to provide a comprehensive description of the three valuation methods for intangible assets--cost, market, and income methods. Easy to read, this book explains the nuances of each method in more detail than similar books available in the market. It reads more like an accessible textbook than a vague primer on the subject. It also contains many insightful and valuable case examples of how the methods are applied to different real life cases. As an MBA student, I have benefitted greatly from this book and will probably use it as a reference in the future.
I hope future editions will include option pricing valuation methods.
Book Description
Successful methodology for identifying earnings-related reporting indiscretions
Creative Cash Flow Reporting and Analysis capitalizes on current concerns with misleading financial reporting on misleading financial reporting. It identifies the common steps used to yield misleading cash flow amounts, demonstrates how to adjust the cash flow statement for more effective analysis, and how to use adjusted operating cash flow to uncover earnings that have been misreported using aggressive or fraudulent accounting practices.
Charles W. Mulford, PhD, CPA (Atlanta, GA), is the coauthor of three books, including the bestselling The Financial Numbers Game: Identifying Creative Accounting Practices. Eugene E. Comiskey, PhD, CPA, CMA (Atlanta, GA), is the coauthor of the bestselling The Financial Numbers Game: Identifying Creative Accounting Practices.
Download Description
"Successful methodology for identifying earnings-related reporting indiscretions
Creative Cash Flow Reporting and Analysis capitalizes on current concerns with misleading financial reporting on misleading financial reporting. It identifies the common steps used to yield misleading cash flow amounts, demonstrates how to adjust the cash flow statement for more effective analysis, and how to use adjusted operating cash flow to uncover earnings that have been misreported using aggressive or fraudulent accounting practices.
Charles W. Mulford, PhD, CPA (Atlanta, GA), is the coauthor of three books, including the bestselling The Financial Numbers Game: Identifying Creative Accounting Practices. Eugene E. Comiskey, PhD, CPA, CMA (Atlanta, GA), is the coauthor of the bestselling The Financial Numbers Game: Identifying Creative Accounting Practices."
Customer Reviews:
The best book on the subject.......2007-10-01
I was a student of Dr. Mulford during my MBA, and I can say that the book is as great as his class. He definitvely was one of the best professors I ever had.
We are used to see in many valuation books to take Free Cash Flow as a given; therefore not understanding the real implication of FCF manipulation in enterprise value.
This book explains how the FCF can be calculated and what are the usual "tricks" that companies do in order to show better (or worse?) results. And that is what is all about: building financial criteria for managers in order to make the best decisions.
The best: meaty, well-written and thorough.......2007-08-23
This is not your typical accounting/finance book (i.e., unclear, unfocused and boring). Creative Cash Flow Reporting is the best and most important accounting/finance book I've read in many years. The authors are certainly focused on the right area (determining sustainable cash flow from operations). The interesting nuances of cash flow reporting are laid out in simple terms (e.g., debt funding and repayments are reported with Financing cash flows, but the related interest expense is reported with Operating cash flows). The authors also go beyond the numbers to provide good background re: a number of strategic alternatives (e.g., why one might enter into a sale/leaseback transaction). There are many other reasons to recommend the book.
In summary, this book is a "must have" for accountants and financial analysts, and I would strongly recommend for CEOs, COOs, corporate and securities attorneys, and corporate middle managers.
Nothing new in here.......2006-12-13
this book serves more as a dictionary of cash flow related items rather than offering any prescription for active monitoring of cash flow related mischief.
save your time and money.
Groundbreaking book.......2006-03-18
Mulford and Comiskey have delivered a tour de force for the financial and accounting community in this book. Whether you are a financial analyst, corporate accountant, auditor or an executive with a small or large firm, you absolutely will benefit from this book. It is one of the most important books of the last 20 years, and in my opinion, it is the finest book ever written on the concepts and methods of deciphering Operating Cash Flow, it's relationship to earnings, calibrating and measuring free cash flow, as well as the mechanics and drivers (and sometimes deliberate manipulation by unscrupulous management) within the business system that can lead to distortions in the Cash Flow statement.
What about earnings supported by artificial means? What are the core drivers of cash flows? What should our view be, vis a vis the Operating Cash flows, regarding non recurring charges and depreciation? Are capital expenditures really as cut and dry as we like to think they are, under GAAP? How does it impact our cash flows, in the real world? How is it sometimes manipulated, to distort the underlying cash flow realities?
If you are a financial or accounting professional, read this book. Read it twice. Read it three times. An absolutely extraordinary book. Well written, insightfull, never boring, always intriguing with unique content. The authors have such an extraordinary grasp of accounting and financial flows, and bring such groundbreaking concepts and ideas to the field, that you won't put this book down, and there are not many accounting or finance books we can say that about !! "Creative Cash Flow" by Mulford and Comiskey is absolutely a virtuoso performance. Amongst, and compared to, the entire literature that exists in the field of accounting and financial analysis, this book is an extraordinary achievement.
Simply the best book on the subject........2005-09-04
Messers Mulford and Comiskey have released a primer on what has lately become a messy subject. Unlike other books with a focus on cash--Hackel's book, for example--this one delves a little bit deeper into the subject of financial misreporting. The reader is given a synopsis of how companies say that their cash is operating, whereas it ought to be put under financing or investing cash flow. There is a multitude of similarly constructed arguments. The examples are lucid, apropos, and contemporary. The book also has a deterministic model for calculating CFFO. Read it.
Book Description
In this project the student obtains and analyzes an annual report from a publicly traded corporation. Activities include: identifying corporate operations, gaining familiarity with the financial data presentation, recognizing trends, calculating ratios, and performing industry and primary competitor comparisons. This project takes approximately 8 to 20 hours to complete (average 10 hours).
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