How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers - Tapa blanda

Intimidated by columns of figures? At a loss when it comes to distinguishing "cash" from "retained earnings"? Worse yet, can't tell if a company's in a slump or an upturn? If making sense of financial statements is the bane of your business life, then look no further. How to Read a Financial Report has been teaching otherwise savvy professionals - managers, entrepreneurs, lenders, lawyers, and investors - just what all those numbers mean. Beginning with the fundamentals of financial reporting, the Fourth Edition brings all those numbers and jargon down to size, letting you in on the basic rules of accounting. You'll not only learn the key to understanding a financial report, but you'll discover how the three basic financial statements - the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement - are all closely tied together and represent different pieces of a company's total financial well-being. A realistic yet straightforward set of financial statements for a fictitious company is the touchstone throughout the book. This master exhibit shows the integrated finances for the company by linking each statement. A visual guide to the intricacies of financial accounting, this Fourth Edition enables you to trace the causes and effects of cash flow and helps you pick apart a financial statement line by line. Fully revised to reflect the new financial realities of the '90s, the Fourth Edition contains a candid look at the impact of recent regulations on financial reporting as well as the Financial Accounting Standards Board statement affecting Other Postretirement Employee Benefits (OPEBs) and other issues of the day. You'll also learn what exactly went wrong in the '80s and howyou can protect yourself from new forms of fraudulent financial reporting that may surface in the '90s. In addition to the revisions contained in earlier editions, such as the Financial Accounting Standard on the cash flow statement and changes in the CPA auditor's report, the book