0-471-77156-2
Accounting and Finance for Your Small Business, 2nd Edition
Author: M. Bragg, E. James Burton, Hardcover, 312 pages, February 2006
$45.00

Allowing readers to gain a more detailed understanding of the financial underpinnings of their businesses, Accounting and Finance for Your Small Business, Second Edition provides the key accounting and finance tools that a small business owner needs to operate and analyze the operations of his business. First, readers can use it to gain control over operations by showing how to build and follow a system of budgets. Second, author Stephen Bragg shows them how to anticipate and counteract future cash flow problems. Third, the book points out common techniques for analyzing the business, which can be used to spot specific areas in need of improvement. Finally, it specifies different types of financial reporting required of a business: to governments, creditors, investors, and management. Accounting and Finance for Your Small Business, Second Edition is not detailed accounting advice, but rather situational analysis of how to create a budget, analyze cash flow, obtain financing, and use basic analyses to obtain an understanding of the financial health of an enterprise.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface.

Section I: Preparing to Operate the Business.

Chapter 1: Budgeting for Operations.

Definition or Purpose of an Operating Budget.

Signs of Budget Ineffectiveness.

Improvements to the Budgeting System.

Responsibility Accounting.

Budget Tracking and Maintenance.

The System of Interlocking Budgets.

Need for Budget Updating.

Summary.

Chapter 2: Investing in Long-Term Assets and Capital Budgeting.

Definitions.

Overview and Use of Capital Budgeting.

Life Cycles.

Capital Budgeting Sequence.

Producing Numbers to Get Dollars, the Use of Forms, and the Capital Budgeting Model.

Miscellaneous Considerations.

Product Discontinuance.

Bailout.

Summary.

Appendix: Examples and Comparison of Calculations.

Chapter 3: Basic Control Systems.

The Need for Control Systems.

Types of Fraud.

Key Controls.

When to Eliminate Controls.

Summary.

Section II: Operating the Business.

Chapter 4: Cash Flow Concerns.

Cash.

What to Do with Excess Cash.

Cash Flows.

Introduction to Cash Flow Budgets.

Indications of Cash Flow Problems.

Managing Cash.

Preparation of the Cash Budget.

Disbursements.

Net Cash Flow and Cash Balances.

Exceptions to Expected Cash Flows.

Summary.

Appendix: Cash Flow Example.

Chapter 5: Financing.

New Businesses.

Zero Working Capital and Zero Fixed Assets.

Types of Financing.

Private Placement of Stock.

Swapping Stock for Expenses.

Stock Warrants.

Stock Subscriptions.

How to Obtain a Bank Loan.

Sources of Debt Financing.

Types of Loan Arrangements.

Restrictions on Loans.

Conditions That a Borrower Should Seek.

Summary.

Section III: Evaluating the Operations of the Business.

Chapter 6: Performance Measurement Systems.

Financial Ratios.

Types of Financial Ratios.

Using Performance Measurements for Predictions.

Operating Ratios.

Other Ratios.

The Balanced Scorecard.

Summary.

Chapter 7: Financial Analysis.

Risk Analysis.

Capacity Utilization.

Breakeven Analysis.

Summary.

Chapter 8: Taxes and Risk Management.

Controlling Tax Liabilities.

Risk Management.

Insurance.

Types of Insurance Companies.

Claims Administration.

Summary.

Chapter 9: Reporting.

Federal Government Requirements.

State Government Requirements.

Local Government Requirements.

Creditors.

Equity Holders.

Management Reports.

Summary.

Index.