Once Upon a Balance Sheet: How to Make Better Decisions, Drive Growth and Increase Profits

Finance doesn’t have to be complex to be clear. It can be seriously fun.

Once Upon a Balance Sheet isn’t your typical finance book. It’s a story-driven experience designed for leaders, professionals, and teams who have always felt a little unsure around numbers and are finally ready to understand financials with clarity and confidence.

Beyond formulas and ratios, you’ll meet a cast of memorable characters inside the Financial Storyverse®. Each one helps you make sense of concepts that once felt overwhelming. This is Financial Storytelling in action: visual, engaging, and surprisingly enjoyable. It’s about making finance seriously fun while giving you the confidence to use numbers with purpose.

Whether you’re sharpening existing skills or starting from scratch, this book will help you read financial statements with new eyes, make smarter decisions, and build financially impactful teams and culture.

Inside, you’ll discover how to:

• Understand the Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, and Cash Flow without jargon
• Spot red flags early and avoid costly mistakes
• Connect numbers to real-world business decisions that drive growth
• Engage in confident conversations about financials, even without a finance background
• Turn numbers into a strategic advantage for your organization

In today’s fast-changing world shaped by AI and accelerating change, finance must become more than just a language of business. It needs to become the language of leadership that blends clarity, empathy, and impact.

That philosophy is what James C Foo Leong calls finance with heart and a smile. It is the foundation behind his Financial Storytelling way, an approach that not only makes finance simpler but also deeper, actionable, and unforgettable. It underpins the visual finance tools he has created and the cast of characters from the Financial Storyverse, including Miss Numbers, Huat, Master C FOO, Count Jargon, and the STEPH Model®.

Endorsed by board chairs, independent directors of listed companies, CEOs, professors, entrepreneurs, and global business minds, including leaders in finance, law, education, and the public sector.

The mission of the book is to help organizations unlock one of the most overlooked levers of sustainable growth: financial learning.

Once Upon a Balance Sheet is your gateway to the Financial Storyverse®. Probably the happiest place to learn finance.

About the Author

James C Foo Leong is an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore and a Chartered Accountant of Singapore and Australia. He is the creator of the Financial Storyverse, a unique world of characters and metaphors that bring finance to life, and the founder of the Financial Storytelling approach, a visual, story-first method that makes finance clear and compelling. He is also the developer of trademarked systems such as the STEPH Model® and Accounting in a Box®, which are used by learners internationally.

He was featured in the SG60 Independent Showcase, honoring Singapore’s sixty most celebrated trainers and speakers during the nation’s 60th-year celebrations, and highlighted in an International Teachers’ Day Special by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) for his contributions to financial education and leadership development.

James has delivered programs for participants across Asia, Australia, and the Middle East. He is trusted across sectors including finance, healthcare, government, non-profit, and listed companies. Over the years, he has helped leaders from startups to Fortune 500 companies transform financial confusion into clarity, confidence, and results, making finance not only understandable but also practical and relatable.

Ready to see the story your numbers are telling?
Get your copy of Once Upon a Balance Sheet today and lead with clarity, confidence, and impact.

James C Foo Leong is an Adjunct Associate Professor, keynote speaker, and the author of the Amazon bestselling book Once Upon a Balance Sheet. He is the creator of Financial Storyverse(R), a framework that helps leaders understand financial statements with clarity and confidence. With over three decades of experience in finance and training, he works with organisations to turn financial clarity into a leadership advantage.