Managing For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Chapter 14. Budgeting, Accounting, and Other Financial Stuff

In This Chapter

• Creating your budget

• Applying professional budget tricks

• Understanding accounting basics

• Interpreting financial statements

In any organization, money makes the world go 'round. No matter how great your department is, how exciting your products are, or what a fabulous bunch of workers you employ, you and your group are in serious jeopardy if you don't have the money you need to keep your business in business. If profits are down and money is increasingly tight in your organization, you'd better take some immediate actions to correct the situation (or revise your résumé and warm up your personal network of business contacts).

As a manager, you need to understand the basics of budgeting and accounting. When your co-workers start throwing around terms such as "labor budget," "cash flow," "income statement," and "balance sheet," don't you want to do more than simply nod your head and respond with a blank stare? Here's some good news: You don't need an MBA to grasp these basics.

In this chapter, we cover the importance of budgeting in an organization, as well as putting together a budget by using some of the professional tricks of the budget trade. We then introduce the survival basics of accounting. We aren't going to make you an accountant, but this chapter can help remove that quizzical look that appears on your face every time someone starts talking balance sheets or cash flow.

Note: Although you may currently work ...