Financial Times Guide to Using & Interpreting Company Accounts

Reading and using company accounts is an essential skill for any manager. Yet most managers find analysing accounts a daunting prospect. The Financial Times Guide to Using and Interpreting Company Accounts solves the problem but not only guiding you through the accounts but also by providing the tools to help you interpret them and make informed decisions. The book begins by illustrating the information to be found in the accounts and looks at the key elements of financial statements. It looks at each statement in the accounts, identifies what they tell you and explains how to read the relevant notes in both UK and overseas accounts. The author then moves on to illustrate what these say about a company's financial performance and shows how to calculate the relevant ratios from a set of published accounts and how to use them to best affect. The final section of the book shows you how to apply this knowledge on a daily basis, in negotiations with your suppliers and customers, in assessing the financial performance of competitors and identifying the acquisition potential of a company.

Solving the problem by not only guiding readers through the accounts but also by providing the tools to help them interpret them and make informed decisions, the book begins by illustrating the information to be found in the accounts and looks at the key elements of financial statements. It looks at each statement in the accounts, identifies what they tell readers and explains how to read the relevant notes in both UK and overseas accounts.