Reading Financial Reports For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Reading Financial Reports For Dummies, 3rd Edition

by Lita Epstein
Released December 2018
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781119543954

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Book description

Reading Financial Reports For Dummies, 3rd Edition (9781119543954) was previously published as Reading Financial Reports For Dummies, 3rd Edition (9781118761939). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product.

  

Discover how to decipher financial reports

Especially relevant in today's world of corporate scandals and new accounting laws, the numbers in a financial report contain vitally important information about where a company has been and where it is going.

Packed with new and updated information, Reading Financial Reports For Dummies, 3rd Edition gives you a quick but clear introduction to financial reports–and how to decipher the information in them.

  • New information on the separate accounting and financial reporting standards for private/small businesses versus public/large businesses
  • New content to match SEC and other governmental regulatory changes
  • New information about how the analyst-corporate connection has actually changed the playing field
  • The impact of corporate communications and new technologies
  • New examples that reflect current trends
  • Updated websites and resources 

Reading Financial Reports For Dummies is for investors, traders, brokers, managers, and anyone else who is looking for a reliable, up-to-date guide to reading financial reports effectively.

 

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. Conventions Used in This Book
    3. What You're Not to Read
    4. Foolish Assumptions
    5. Icons Used in This Book
    6. Beyond the Book
    7. Where to Go from Here
  3. Part 1: Getting Started with Reading Financial Reports
    1. Chapter 1: Opening the Cornucopia of Reports
      1. Figuring Out Financial Reporting
      2. Checking Out Types of Reporting
      3. Dissecting the Annual Report to Shareholders
    2. Chapter 2: Recognizing Business Types and Their Tax Rules
      1. Flying Solo: Sole Proprietorships
      2. Joining Forces: Partnerships
      3. Seeking Protection with Limited Liability Companies
      4. Shielding Your Assets: S and C Corporations
    3. Chapter 3: Public or Private: How Company Structure Affects the Books
      1. Investigating Private Companies
      2. Understanding Public Companies
      3. Entering a Whole New World: How a Company Goes from Private to Public
    4. Chapter 4: Digging into Accounting Basics
      1. Making Sense of Accounting Methods
      2. Understanding Debits and Credits
      3. Checking Out the Chart of Accounts
      4. Differentiating Profit Types
  4. Part 2: Checking Out the Big Show: Annual Reports
    1. Chapter 5: Exploring the Anatomy of an Annual Report
      1. Everything but the Numbers
      2. Presenting the Financial Picture
      3. Summarizing the Financial Data
    2. Chapter 6: Balancing Assets against Liabilities and Equity
      1. Understanding the Balance Equation
      2. Introducing the Balance Sheet
      3. Ogling Assets
      4. Looking at Liabilities
      5. Navigating the Equity Maze
    3. Chapter 7: Using the Income Statement
      1. Introducing the Income Statement
      2. Delving into the Tricky Business of Revenues
      3. Acknowledging Expenses
      4. Sorting Out the Profit and Loss Types
      5. Calculating Earnings per Share
    4. Chapter 8: The Statement of Cash Flows
      1. Digging into the Statement of Cash Flows
      2. Checking Out Operating Activities
      3. Investigating Investing Activities
      4. Understanding Financing Activities
      5. Recognizing the Special Line Items
      6. Adding It All Up
    5. Chapter 9: Scouring the Notes to the Financial Statements
      1. Deciphering the Small Print
      2. Accounting Policies Note: Laying out the Rules of the Road
      3. Figuring out Financial Borrowings and Other Commitments
      4. Mergers and Acquisitions: Finding Noteworthy Information
      5. Pondering Pension and Retirement Benefits
      6. Breaking Down Business Breakdowns
      7. Reviewing Significant Events
      8. Finding the Red Flags
    6. Chapter 10: Considering Consolidated Financial Statements
      1. Getting a Grip on Consolidation
      2. Looking at Methods of Buying up Companies
      3. Reading Consolidated Financial Statements
      4. Looking to the Notes
  5. Part 3: Analyzing the Numbers
    1. Chapter 11: Testing the Profits and Market Value
      1. The Price/Earnings Ratio
      2. The Dividend Payout Ratio
      3. Return on Sales
      4. Return on Assets
      5. Return on Equity
      6. The Big Three: Margins
    2. Chapter 12: Looking at Liquidity
      1. Finding the Current Ratio
      2. Determining the Quick Ratio
      3. Investigating the Interest Coverage Ratio
      4. Comparing Debt to Shareholders’ Equity
      5. Determining Debt-to-Capital Ratio
    3. Chapter 13: Making Sure the Company Has Cash to Carry On
      1. Measuring Income Success
      2. Checking Out Debt
      3. Calculating Cash Flow Coverage
  6. Part 4: Understanding How Companies Optimize Operations
    1. Chapter 14: How Reports Help with Basic Budgeting
      1. Peering into the Budgeting Process
      2. Building Budgets
      3. Providing Monthly Budget Reports
      4. Using Internal Reports
    2. Chapter 15: Turning Up Clues in Turnover and Assets
      1. Exploring Inventory Valuation Methods
      2. Applying Three Inventory Valuation Methods
      3. Determining Inventory Turnover
      4. Investigating Fixed Assets Turnover
      5. Tracking Total Asset Turnover
    3. Chapter 16: Examining Cash Inflow and Outflow
      1. Assessing Accounts Receivable Turnover
      2. Taking a Close Look at Customer Accounts
      3. Finding the Accounts Payable Ratio
      4. Determining the Number of Days in Accounts Payable
      5. Deciding Whether Discount Offers Make Good Financial Sense
    4. Chapter 17: How Companies Keep the Cash Flowing
      1. Slowing Bill Payments
      2. Speeding Up Collecting Accounts Receivables
      3. Borrowing on Receivables
      4. Reducing Inventory
      5. Getting Cash More Quickly
  7. Part 5: The Many Ways Companies Answer to Others
    1. Chapter 18: Finding Out How Companies Find Errors: The Auditing Process
      1. Inspecting Audits and Auditors
      2. Examining Records: The Role of the Auditor
      3. Filling the GAAP
    2. Chapter 19: Digging into Government Regulations
      1. Checking Out the 10-Q
      2. Introducing the 10-K
      3. Investigating Internal Controls
      4. Uncovering the Ways Companies Keep in Compliance
      5. Digging into Board Operations
      6. Finding Out about Insider Ownership
    3. Chapter 20: Creating a Global Financial Reporting Standard
      1. Why Develop a Worldwide Financial Standard?
      2. Key Moves to Reshape Global Financial Reporting
      3. Who Benefits from a Global Standard and How?
      4. Key Differences between GAAP and the IFRS
    4. Chapter 21: Checking Out the Analyst–Corporation Connection
      1. Typecasting the Analysts
      2. Regarding Bond-Rating Agencies
      3. Delving into Stock Rating
      4. Taking a Look at How Companies Talk to Analysts
    5. Chapter 22: How Companies Communicate with Shareholders
      1. Making the Most of Meetings
      2. Checking Out How the Board Runs the Company
      3. Sorting through Reports
      4. Catching Up on Corporate Actions
      5. Culling Information from Analyst Calls
      6. Staying Up-to-Date Using Company Websites
      7. Regarding Reinvestment Plans
    6. Chapter 23: Keeping Score When Companies Play Games with Numbers
      1. Getting to the Bottom of Creative Accounting
      2. Unearthing the Games Played with Earnings
      3. Exploring Exploitations of Expenses
      4. Finding Funny Business in Assets and Liabilities
      5. Playing Detective with Cash Flow
  8. Part 6: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 24: Ten (+1) Financial Scandals That Rocked the World
      1. Enron
      2. Madoff
      3. Citigroup
      4. Adelphia
      5. WorldCom/MCI
      6. Sunbeam
      7. Tyco
      8. Waste Management
      9. Bristol-Meyers Squibb
      10. Halliburton
      11. Arthur Andersen
    2. Chapter 25: Ten Signs That a Company's in Trouble
      1. Lower Liquidity
      2. Low Cash Flow
      3. Disappearing Profit Margins
      4. Revenue Game Playing
      5. Too Much Debt
      6. Unrealistic Values for Assets and Liabilities
      7. A Change in Accounting Methods
      8. Questionable Mergers and Acquisitions
      9. Slow Inventory Turnover
      10. Slow-Paying Customers
  9. Appendix: Glossary
  10. Index
  11. About the Author
  12. Advertisement Page
  13. Connect with Dummies
  14. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Reading Financial Reports For Dummies, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): Lita Epstein
  • Release date: December 2018
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781119543954