Understanding Financial Statements: Master the Tools that Help You Succeed

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Balance sheets. Income statements. Profitability Ratios. These are just a few of the crucial tools to successful understanding and managing business. Becoming comfortable with financial statements, and learning how to use them to successfully analyze and navigate a company is essential to success. This introduction to financial statements will lay the ground work for that understanding and server as a valuable reference guide over time. Understanding Financial Statements starts with an introduction to all the basic tools of finance including who creates them and who uses them. Then you’ll learn how to: Interpret the three primary statements to guide your decisions Analyze your business using the 12 standard ratios and percentages Understand the difference between cash and profit Manage expenses to increase productivity

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James Gill The late James O. Gill worked as Division Manager and Projects Manager with the Naval Weapons Support Center in Crane, Indiana. He was the author of Financial Basics of Small Business Success, Financial Analysis, and the first edition of Understanding Financial Statements, all published by Crisp Publications, Inc. Jim enjoyed great success teaching financial basics to people with limited financial backgrounds. Moira E. Chatton revised and updated the work of Jim Gill. She earned a degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. from the University of Georgia. Employed initially as a financial analyst by Chevron Chemical Company in San Francisco, she held a series of increasingly responsible and challenging positions in other Chevron companies. Since retiring from Chevron, Ms. Chatton provides in-house financial training to local businesses and teaches small business and finance courses at Santa Rosa Junior College and the University of Phoenix. Dr. William R. Osgood This revision is provided by Dr. William R. Osgood, an internationally recognized expert in entrepreneurship and small business management. He has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals to start, grow, and succeed in business through his work as a professor, counselor, business consultant, and professional speaker, and as author of more than 25 books on entrepreneurship and business development. A serial entrepreneur, he has started numerous successful ventures. His current work involves the creation of innovative Web-based learning systems and the application of knowledge management to integrate and support the strategic operations of entrepreneurial ventures. Table of Contents Part 1: The Basics of Financial Statements Part 2: Understanding Ratios and Percentages Part 3: How to Use Ratio Analysis Part 4: How to Perform an Expense Analysis Part 5: How to Control Your Business Appendix