How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers (How to Read a Financial Report)

Average customer rating:

Excellent for first time user (FIRST time user)

great book

Excellent terse intro to financial statements

A pleasure to read

Arrows, Diagrams, and Simple Explanations

How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers (How to Read a Financial Report)
John Tracy
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Hidden somewhere among all the numbers in a financial report is vitally important information about where a company has been and where it is going. This is especially relevant in light of the current corporate scandals.
The sixth edition of this bestselling book is designed to help anyone who works with financial reports--but has neither the time nor the need for an in-depth knowledge of accounting--cut through the maze of accounting information to find out what those numbers really mean.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent for first time user (FIRST time user).......2007-10-21

This book is a good choice for someone who don't now anything about financial reports.

I'm no expert but I'm more than novice. It didn't help me much. If you know already something, don't buy this book. But if this is your FIRST step reading financial reports, this is a great book.

great book.......2007-07-30

I spent a long time trying to find a book that could help me read a financial statement. It needed to be simple without sacrificing substance. Finally I found this book. It shows how income, cash flow, and balance sheet are related, in a visual, line by line way.

I think the only way you could do it better is by having a spreadsheet which linked all these together, which you could play with and see the linkages in action. But barring that, this book is great.

It does require study, but I don't think it requires much accounting background. I had no business or accounting background, and I found this book approachable.

The one downside is that it doesn't teach you how to interpret a financial statement. It teaches you to understand how one works, and how it fits together. But how to spot things that might be "troublesome" or in need of further inquiry in a real business report, this book doesn't tell you.

You need another book for that sort of thing. And I haven't found one of those yet -- that is simple and strong in its own way.

Excellent terse intro to financial statements.......2007-06-19

I loved this book. John Tracy does an outstanding job introducing financial statements: how to read them, how to make sense of the numbers, and the basic framework around the statements. His language is easy to understand, and his examples illustrate the new concepts very well. The book is 200 pages long, and there is zero fluff. I found everything to be very useful information - nice and crisp.

Tracy jumps in by introducing cash flows and basic financial statements. He continues through the first half of the book by going down the income statement and the balance sheet together, describing how the numbers from the two statements work together (i.e. which portions of the income statement affect various numbers on the balance sheet).

Next, Tracy jumps into cash flows and describes the cash flow statement. He nicely illustrates how cash flow and profit differ and how they can grow in opposite directions depending on whether the business is expanding or shrinking. Tracy then covers logistics - he talks about statement footnotes, the importance of CPA audits, and the organizations and standards surrounding financial statements. He continues by discussing the various methods of expensing the cost of goods (LIFO, FIFO, average) and various depreciation and amortization techniques, and wraps up with common financial ratios (ROE, ROI, P/E, etc.) and a brief FAQ of basic questions and answers.

There are many diagrams throughout the book, and they are, for the most part, very helpful. I found a couple small errors in the diagrams (and a couple typos throughout the text), but they didn't really hinder my understanding - it was obvious what the author was trying to say and show.

This book does not require any previous knowledge of the subject. In fact, Tracy does a fantastic job defining everything he discusses. I like how new terms and concepts are italicized to emphasize their importance. The book is well organized (see 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of this review), although I wish that chapters 20 and 21 (cost of goods expense methods, depreciation & amortization techniques) came earlier in the book - closer to where Tracy discussed these items on the income statement. However, I do understand his motivation to save these items for later - so as not to confuse the reader with more advanced topics while introducing the basics - and to postpone the discussion of various ways to affect the net income.

Tracy is unafraid to give his own personal advice. He often uses "I think" and "in my opinion" throughout the book to emphasize his own preferences and thoughts rather than the generally accepted ideas. He expresses his opinions on the GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), the organizations that ultimately govern the GAAP, and, most importantly, on acceptable and average values for various financial ratios - I found this to be most helpful.

On a totally different note, the book has an interesting physical format - it is wider than it is taller. While this sucks for bookshelf storage, it gives lots of room for the large and clear diagrams.

In conclusion, I recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn about financial statements. You will not see very advanced topics, but you will get a great introduction and quite a bit of practical advice. Excellent job by John Tracy!

Pros:
+ very easy to read and understand - Tracy's explanations are simple and straight to the point
+ lots of diagrams, which nicely illustrate the flow of numbers
+ great intro to the 3 basic financial statements
+ additional useful and interesting info on the organizations and standards surrounding financial statements
+ practical advice (average values for certain ratios, what to look for first in the financial statements, etc.)

Cons:
- a couple small diagram errors and typos (not very significant)
- could include more info on advanced topics

A pleasure to read.......2007-06-17

I am only a little way through the latest edition of "How to Read a Financial Report". One area i can already see as a huge plus is the style in which the book is written. Candidly, clearly and entertainingly relaying information on a topic that can so easily become one of the dreariest around has helped me understand and retain much more information on the terms and concepts I need to know.

Without even finishing half of this book, I am compelled to offer a strong recommendation to anyone contemplating purchasing it. I have only done what could best be described as rudimentary level accounting previously. This has left me with a great number of terms and definitions but little real understanding on the interconnectedness of financial reports and the terms within them. "How to Read a Financial Report" essentially gathers all the pieces of the puzzle and clearly shows you how it is put together. Whilst I cannot comment on the latter half of the book, this explanation of the way the financial statements connect has already proven invaluable to me.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone wanting to truly understand the nature of financial statements

James.L,
Sydney,
Australia

Arrows, Diagrams, and Simple Explanations.......2007-05-18

If you already know how to read financial reports like a pro or you work in the accounting department as an auditor, this book is definitely not for you. However, if the reams of reports spit out by corporations dumbfound you or you just feel intimidated when your accountant hands you a P&L, this book is perfect for you!

The author starts by explaining, line-by-line, each item in each type of report: Cash Flows, Balance Sheets, and more. The author then uses good ol' fashion simple diagrams and arrows that show direct interactions between lines in each report. The concepts are as easy to grasp as "if this number goes up, this other number goes down and here's why." It's just that elegant!

In my opinion, this should be required reading for any college graduate. In today's world a certain level of business acumen is expected which includes the ability to read and comprehend basic financial reports. This book gives you enough knowledge so that you can comfortably understand those reports. Of course, you can always delve deeper, if you choose, but keep in mind that this book is for the uninitiated which is just perfect for most of us mere mortals.

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How to Read a Financial Report
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How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers 6th Edition Paper with Financial Accouting: Tools for Business Decision Making 4th Edition Set

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