How to Read & Understand Financial Statements

Financial statements are fundamental to any business, large or small. They are actually "report cards" on the performance of the business. When reading them, you will encounter odd terminology, strange calculations, and of course, big numbers. But what insight can they give you as a manager, owner, or investor? How can you use financial statements to manage the business or be a wiser investor without having to become a CPA? And what in the world do some of those terms mean and how do you use them? With the guidance in this book, if you can read a nutrition label or a baseball box score, you can learn to read basic financial statements. There are four main financial statements. They are balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, and statements of shareholders equity. It is important to note that a financial statement does NOT tell the complete story. Combined, however, they provide very powerful information for business owners, managers, and investors. Information is the best tool when it comes to managing and investing wisely. This easy-to-follow book will make you an expert on financial statement interpretation including: profit and loss statements (income statements), balance sheets, financial analyses, profit analyses, break-even analyses, and ratios. The book includes an extensive glossary useful lingo and hundreds of hints, tricks, and secrets about how to read these statements and use them to your advantage.

About the Author :
Brian Kline has been investing in a variety of stocks since the early 1980s when he made it a point to learn how to read financial statements. He also draws upon 25-plus years of business experience, including 12 years as a manager at a Dow Jones Industrial company (Boeing Aircraft Company). His investment holdings have included private businesses and public corporations. In the public corporation sector, the investments have been broad-based to include early Internet companies, high-tech companies, and the more mundane but reliable conglomerate companies. He also invests in mutual funds. Kline does not currently hold any investments in the businesses analyzed in this book. In addition to investing in corporate stocks and bonds, he has considerable investment experience in real estate.