Customer Reviews

Finance for Non-Financial Managers (Briefcase Books Series)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Corporate finances are becoming increasingly important in a tight-economy world. The word is out: manage your finances well or you're in trouble. Even as our economy improves, this topic will continue to be critical. Every executive, manager, and aspiring manager must be familiar with the concepts of corporate finance.

If you are not a financial wizard, and most of us aren't, this book will give you the depth and breadth of understanding to "speak the language." Twelve well-organized chapters present the vital information about the role of financial management, the various reports that are generated-why and what they mean, profit and cash flow, and critical performance factors. The author, a Certified Management Consultant and Certified Professional Accountant with years of advisory and teaching experience under his belt, then delves into specialized areas. Readers will learn about cost accounting, business planning, budgeting, financing a business, and attracting outside investors. There is a tremendous amount of information packed into these pages.

As part of McGraw-Hill's Briefcase Book series, this book is filled with seven types of call-out boxes: Smart Managing, Cautions, Tricks of the Trade, Key Terms, Examples, Tools, and Mistake-Proofing. This is the kind of book you will read through to get a comprehensive picture, then return to as a reference book for yourself and others. The author's writing style is personal and conversational---like having a chat with an accountant who can explain what you don't understand...and what you don't even know that you don't understand. The depth is here.

There have been a number of books written on this topic over the years, many of them thick, heavy, and filled with small print and hard-to-comprehend charts and graphs. This book is designed to be enjoyed and absorbed: larger type, lightweight, and readable. Graphs and charts are clear; they make sense.

If you're going to read---and keep---a book on finance for people who don't go there frequently, this is the book. Clear some space on your bookshelf. This one's a keeper!

Give this book five stars. For some reason Amazon inserted only three into my review.

I teach graduate level finance for non-financial managers. I have searched many titles in an attempt to find an easy to understand finance book for students. Thank you, Gene!

The book translates the language of numbers into easy to understand English. Financial concepts are provided in a step-by-step method so that the reader develops skills that may be used immediately.

The book is an easy read with a light touch of humor so that even the non-financial student can grasp and understand difficult topics. Two examples of the way this is approached: "He bit who?" translates to EBITDA; and the checklist for managers at the end of each chapter provides valuable tips for the reader.

Gene has done a great job of capturing the finance essentials every manager needs to deal with - in a logical, easy to read manner. I found that simply reading - not studying - the book gave me far more financial understanding than any theoretical b-school course, and in much less time. The anecdotal illustrations are very helpful in delivering clear explanations without getting bogged down with jargon. Well worth the read.

I consider myself a manager who knows my business. I am very good at what I do, but I have been predominantly ignorant in issues of finance. I did not even know how this affected me. I knew I wanted to understand the mysteries of finance, but I had bounced of a half-dozen other books on finance, including the portable MBA in Finance.

Finance for Non-Financial Managers is different. The book delivered what I needed to know in a text that I could read in a couple of evenings. Gene Siciliano has an energy for issues of finance. He presents examples of financial tools and metrics being used to diagnose and fix business problems. He kept my interest and motivated me to learn more.

This book is well targeted to it's audience. So if you are a "non-financial manager", who has limited time and no inborn passion for bean counting, I can highly recommend this book. It will succinctly present what you need to know and will take the extra step of letting you know how it applies to your success.

As a banker, I sit down with a lot of business owners who just don't understand the financial dynamics of their business. If they only took the time to read this clear, concise and useful book, they would be so further ahead of the game, and more likely to get the financing they need. It's a must read for any business owner, or business professional who feels they need to increase their knowledge of finance. Great Job!

This book provides a solid overview of the basic information required to understand Finance. It is a great read for the person new to Finance and it is also a great refresher to those who might have had Finance classes and maybe even courses years ago. What is great about this book is that you have a few chapters devoted to each segment of Finance.

A very good book that is easy to read and understand. Consider this book if you are looking to better understand that which is called "Finance".

I started an MBA program a year ago without any background in finance or accounting. I wish I had read this book first. MBA classes often launch into advanced discussion on topics, bringing out nuances before adequately introducing the basics the way you would to someone who knows nothing of the topic. This book presents a skeleton for multiple topics: accounting, internal accounting, financial statement analysis and entrepreneurial finance. It is explained very clearly with examples, and has little boxes around all the key terms so that you can quickly reference topics.

It was clearly written by someone who has spent a long enough time in the field to be able to explain things simply, realistically and clearly. I recommend this book highly to people who feel a bit lost in basic accounting and finance. If you read this, you won't flinch when someone brings up convertible debt, amortization, P/E ratios, preferred stock and the like. Note that there's no discussion of net present value and other corporate finance topics.

Gene Siciliano has written an easy-to-read (conversational), easy-to-understand yet comprehensive review of everything from why to have financial statements in the first place and the part played by financial reporting both within and without a company to the meaning of the financial reports themselves and finally to how to plan and finance your company. Highly recommend the book. A good review for experienced managers and a must-read for those who want to know more about finance and the financial management of all sized companies.

The book does an excellent job explaining accounting/finance terms to the non-financial manager. I am a small business owner and reading this book has provided me with the tools I need to keep my finance clear and also to understand better what kind of information to look for and ask the CPA for a better decision making. Great book.!

This is a good overview of finance from what I can tell. I have no financial background, and Siciliano makes a good effort to explain things in layman's terms while keeping the meanings clear.