Financial-ratio Books

This is a wonderful book. The pictorial presentation takes away the complexity about financial management and makes a difficult subject extremely simple to understand. I would wish that the author in further editions add more dyanmic interactions about alternative strategies that are followed on the balance sheet and profit and loss account, so that this excellent work could be taken to a higher level. I think no one in a business organization, right from the CEO to the lowest level, can ill afford not to keep this book close to them, Hats off to Mr Walsh,it is a great contribution to business management.

This book helped me understand what balance sheet management is all about. Author draws examples visually. A must book for investors who begin a new.

It is the one book on financial management that helps you to get an intutive grip on the mangement ratios and how they relate to business.

An excellent reading and a 'guide' for a Non- Financial Manager or, for one who is driving his business anew. The book gives in a very simple language, the profound concept, and the method to understand the key ratios that we need to focus on, and make it happen. Specially recommended for Technical Mamagers who want to enlighten themselves about financial aspects of business.

A top class in management analysis for those of us who do not continuously work with ratios and financial decision making. Walsh makes the concepts easy to understand, places them in a wider context of company valuation and has succeeded in writing a book that reads very pleasantly. He reduces the concepts to their very essence and clearly establishes a framework of financial analysis. This book has helped me see the wider picture and explain it to others in simple, everyday language.

This almanac uses 50 performance indicators to compare financial information on 192 industries. Industries included in this reference work include agricultural production, coal mining, ship and boat building, electrical contractors, fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty food manufacturing, and furniture and related product information. The information listed on these industries is in numerical format and includes revenue (such as net sales, rents, roytalties) operating costs (such as taxes paid, advertising, operating margin) and selected financial ratios (such as total asset turnover, inventory turnover, cash flow to total debt). ....

I love this fat heavy book produced by Risk Management Associates, a book publisher based in Philadelphia. I have a copy of the 2005/2006 edition published in 2005. And an examination of the company's Web site indicates that a new edition is published each year and currently sells for $250.

The book includes annual statement studies for 703 NAICS industries, and breaks them into 20 groupings. One such grouping is "Information" which includes 17 of the NAICS industries and the NAICS industry code numbers vary between 511110-518210. The book is organized into 7 chapters as follows:

1. Introduction to Statement Studies & Organization of Content
2. Definition of Ratios
3. Explanation of Noncontractor Balance Sheet & Income Data
4. Explanation of Contractor Balance Sheet & Income Data
5. Full Descriptions of NAICS Industries appearing in this Book
6. Annual Statement Studies of NAICS Industries per 20 Groupings
>>Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, & Hunting [27] (NAICS:111140-115210)
>>Mining [7] (NAICS: 211111-213112)
>>Utilities [3] (NAICS: 221122-221310)
>>Construction [27] (NAICS: 236115-238990)
>>Manufacturing [258] (NAICS: 311119-339999)
>>Wholesale Trade [70] (NAICS: 423110-425120)
>>Retail Trade [57] (NAICS: 441110-454390)
>>Transportation & Warehousing [33] (NAICS: 481111-493190)
>>Information [17] (NAICS: 511110-518210)
>>Finance & Insurance [22] (NAICS: 522210-525990)
>>Real Estate & Rental & Leasing [20] (NAICS: 531110-533110)
>>Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services [33] (NAICS: 541110-541990)
>>Management of Companies & Enterprises [2] (NAICS: 551111-551112)
>>Administrative & Support & Waste Management & Remediation [24] (NAICS: 561110-562998)
>>Educational Services [7] (NAICS: 611110-611710)
>>Health Care & Social Assistance [33] (NAICS: 621111-624410)
>>Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation [15] (NAICS: 711110-713990)
>>Accomodation & Food Services [9] (NAICS: 721110-722410)
>>Other Services (except Public Administration) [30] (NAICS: 811111-814110)
>>Public Administration [9] (NAICS: 921110-926110)
7. Keyword Index of NAICS Industries appearing in this Book

I like this book so much because it is a wonderful resource to use when putting together the financial section of a business plan. It provides information about a wide range of industries where small businesses flourish. And if you know the value of the total assets you will need to start your small business, then you can use this book to estimate what the mix of your assets and liabilities will be on your business plan's balance sheet. If you know the total sales (gross sales) you can realistically expect during the first year or two of your small business, then you can use this book to estimate what the mix of operating expenses and other expenses will be.

You can figure out the value of the total assets and the figure for total sales by doing investigation and research regarding the competitors you will face in your company's market. And I recommend you also take a look at "Financial Studies of the Small Business" (ASIN: B000PEX0OY) which provides much the same information and analysis, but covers less industries and does not include NAICS codes. 5 stars!

Both in my personal and professional dealings with financial analysis, Winning Business has proven to be an extremely valuable resource. From a personal standpoint, the detailed yet clear explanations of the indicators and ratios have elevated my understanding of financial statements. In evaluating potential investments, Winning Business has increased my comfort level in performing fundamental analysis and comparing various companies.

From a professional standpoint, my company has utilized several of the performance and benchmarking indicators detailed within this book as measures to track key value drivers. The indicators have given us quantifiable targets to shoot for internally as well as providing a means to see how we measure up to our competition. Winning Business has proven to be an extremely valuable reference tool I keep both on my bookshelf at home and at work. I have a hard time remembering the formulas and significance of many of the ratios; it is helpful to have a source where they are both easy to find and understand.

If one can gramattically apply the modifer "very" to "Comprehensive" this is the palce to apply it. This book has become an essential tool in my reference library. If you are serious about communicating an important message, this will help. I particularly like the comments on the appropriate use and potential misuse of each ratio.

This book makes a great reference for those that use business formulas on a normal basis. It presents all the normally used formulas in a single book and some special use formulas also. A must for any business library.

This is a great reference book for Financial Statement Ratio Analysis. Unlike some other ratio analysis books, this one has more ratios than you would ever need to use even in the most in-depth analysis of a companies financials.

The layout of the book flows naturally, meaning that the book divides the ratios into categories like Liquidity, Solvency, Performance, Return on Investment, etc... the one shortfall here is though you'd expect the ratios to flow from one into the other as you pick a category and investigate it, you'd be wrong. For example, The Current, Quick, and Cash ratios are some of the most important starter ratios for Liquidity test and you'd expect the section on Liquidity to start with them, but it doesn't. It starts with Accounts Receivable Turnover ratio followed by Average Receivable Collection Period. Although that is important, it's not where one typically starts during a liquidity test, so the author could have organized the ratios with a little more thought. Nevertheless, this disadvantage is outweighed by the advantage of having a good explanation of what each ratio means with a hypothetical example for every single ratio.

It's my conclusion that this book is made for people with an existing knowledge of Accounting.

Beginners would have a difficult time with this, as the book is filled with jargon. Accountants and professional analysists would love this, because all the jargon just saves us time. We hate it when books like these try to cater to everyone, including amateurs, and in the end just 'water down' the content. We just want that ratio and a quick explanation in OUR language of what it means and how to interpret it. This book does just that.

If you're looking for a Ratio reference book, you should definitely have this one as part of a larger collection, since having one ratio reference book is not enough and you always need to cross-reference if you get lost along the way.

Business Ratios and Formulas, A Comprehensive Guide, is the most thorough reference book of its type. Steven Bragg provides a complete explanation of each business ratio and formula and follows each with a scenario example of their applications. Also provided is a discussion of how the resultant calculation can be misleading or should be used in conjunction with other ratios. I have not seen this feature in any other book of its kind.

Another excellent feature of the book is the chapter on "Measurement Analysis with an Electronic Spreadsheet", which describes the use of Microsoft Excel to assist the business professional in automating the analysis. Five types of analyses are included in this chapter: financial statements, project analysis, investment analysis, risk analysis and trend analysis.

In the introduction to the text Mr. Bragg states, "Even if a company has developed a reasonable set of measurements, this does not mean that they should never be changed." As a controller I am in the process of re-examining my company's measurement process. This book is an invaluable resource. Excellent for both the professional and student. A book I wish I had during my MBA studies.

This is not an easy-read book. It is much like a cookbook - there are all kinds of recipes (formulas) identified and explained. A must-read for anyone who wants to start, run, and grow a business.

After reading this book you should be impressed with the fact that every business can be viewed as a database of numbers (statistics). The quality of the databases will vary, often significantly, but all businesses can build quality databases if they so desire. If they do, then they can take advantage of the priceless information included in this book.

I used to work for a small company that refused to keep accurate accounting records. All they worried about it seemed was the cash flow schedule so they could pay their bills. I tried to impress upon them the importance of well-kept books so the health status of the business could always be identified quickly, and strategic planning could be performed to increase profitability or to pursue growth pursuant to a plan. If they had kept books as I suggested, then they wold have been able to take advantage of the book I'm reviewing here.

By reading this book and taking note of the financial data necessary to plug and chug the formulas, you will be knowledgeable about how to set up your accounting records on Quickbooks Pro or whatever other accounting software your company uses. And the better those accounts are set up, the better you will be able to use the information provided in this book.

I'm very impressed with Mr. Walsh book (review based on 3rd print). I have never come across a textbook on this subject which made the links between balance sheet, income statement and cashflow so much clear right from the beginning. The set-up of the book is great with clear pictures accompanied with explanatory text. Whenever I have to review a certain term, just seeing the graphics brings it all back.

What a great reading! Another example that it is possible to write clear and simple evan about comlex questions. A must read book. Congratulation!!!

After working under finance for more than 10 years and graduated with both a bachelor's degree in Accounting and MBA in Finance, I have never come across a better book on financial ratios and analysis than this. What Ciaran Walsh wrote here is a classic - his approach has been very illuminating yet simple. Unlike other supposedly-easy-to-use ratio books written by CPAs and PhDs for the non-financial public, Ciaran explains the intracacies of the Balance Sheet, Income and Cash Flow statements in an easy-to-understand language, step-by-step with clear examples. I am sure business people who lack the knowledge in accounting or finance will find this invaluable. Another great feature of this book is that it includes industry-wide benchmark ratio figures for UK, USA, Japanese, etc companies for comparison. This will be especially useful for would-be MBAs, etc in their financial (and to some extent strategic) analysis of real-life case studies. Should be a compulsory companion book to the normal textbooks for those pursuing business or finance majors at both undergraduate and Master's level. Ciaran Walsh's masterpiece is really way ahead of the rest.........

While this book is quite good in its explanation on fundamentals, I am really disappointed with its numerous typos.

If ever there was an un-putdownable book in financial management, this is it.

The author has extremely clear fundamentals, and makes it very easy to follow his logic every step of the way.

The introductory chapters on accounting are the best I have come across. The industry benchmarks are extremely useful. It would be great if we had a newer edition, with updated benchmarks, and a more industry-specific break up (e.g. software)

This book is a must-have for MBAs, under-grads, managers, small business owners, and just about anyone who needs to analyze ratios.

This book offers wide range of management models. Its advantage is related to its wide spectrum of business and management models. Less theoretically orientated, and more practical and useful tool.
Recommended for every one who wishes to adopt and implement some management models.
Hillel Avihai (Ph.D.)

The book "key management models" is an useful guide to 90% of the most read and applied administration philosophy. Is is both a good starting point to understand the context and a way to refresh your memory for the ones that have read it decades ago.
But one should not expect to learn it all from this book as it summarizes a 200 pages book in 3 pages.
Finally the last comments on the application of the philosophy are fair and, from my experience on some of the topics, very close to the day-to-day business reality.

The graphical presentations and practical explanations are very helpful to valuation practitioners. I was so impressed I purchased the related software that is promoted in and modeled after the book. It never functioned correctly, and after a week of trying to reach technical support I finally reached them and they didn't really try to resolve the software's Visual Basic malfunction. Book is great, but ignore it's promotion of the software.

Having read his sixth edition, I was impressed enough with the 10th edition that I use it for the college class I teach. Unlike most books in this area, Dr. Helfert's book is easy to read and VERY practitioner oriented. I truly believe that if you have an interest in financial analysis, either as an investor or from the perspective of running your own organization, this is the single most valuable resource you could own. If I didn't believe that was true, I'd have my students using a different book.

This is a dictionary like book of the most common indicators used in technical analysis. Every beginner should read it.

I've been trading for many years, if you think technical analysis is a magical way to make money, I hope you have plenty to pay the tuition!

What purports to be a thorough review of technical indicators turns out to be something less. Many of the indicators are left without explanation as to how they are calculated, or the reader is directed to a CD-ROM that is not included, that has to be purchased separately. On the plus side, the author does provide an explanation as to how the indicator signal is to be interpreted.

Steven Achelis does a pretty decent job of showing what the stock market really is: just a big jumble of numbers completely determined by human emotion. And because pretty much anything involving human emotion is cyclical, it also becomes somewhat predictable.

This book presents an excellent selection of technical indicators that do a number of different things. It also presents formulas for most of the indicators.

... but also a well written understanding of the mathematical models that make them work. If you trade with indicators, you need this book along with "Pring".

If you are looking for a technical tool reference book for your investing/trading library this is the one. This book covers (in alphabetical order) every trading tool I am aware of including the O' Neal CAN SLIM method, trend lines, volume, stochastics, Williams %R, every kind of moving average, candlestick charting, decline/advance, oscillators and just about everything else you will run across in trading stocks. The author gives an overview of the indicator, the interpretation, an example, then shows how to calculate it with the mathematical formulas used and a table for reference. I read this book from cover to cover and learned a great deal. I believe it is a must have for beginners if you are serious about using technical tools to time your trades correctly at proper buy points.

Very surface coverage...at about $1.00 per page you should get more in depth analysis. Entire format of the book is very strange.

This book is very basic. The solutions book for this book is difficult to read and I did not go anywhere with it. It is probably much better for a general overview of financial shenanigans than anything. If you are a credit analyst then a much better book and much more in depth analysis (not accounting though) is Financial Statement Analysis by John J. Wild and others. Get the CD though if possible because it will help out greatly.

I'm not a financial analyst but I'm interested in analysing companies for my own investments. I found the book easy to read. It's a big eye-opener for someone who was not aware of all the accounting gimmicks that aggressive companies can play. I'm certainly a better investor now.

That being said, please note that this book won't tell you much about what you need to do to value a company and invest in it. It will help you spot troublesome companies and accounting tricks that don't look right, but after that you're on your own. You need more than this book to be a good investor, but this book is a pretty important part of being a good investor.

I needed this book for a Financial Statement Analysis class. It is a decent book, full of examples, so that makes it very interesting; however, the themes are very repetitive. It not an exciting book by any stretch, but it does have some usefulness.

in all likelihood, average investors will not get much out of this book, as average investors don't pore over 10-ks, annual reports and conduct industry analysis prior to investing (which they should!). but for those above average investors who do (read: intelligent investors, per ben graham), this book is an excellent read.

2/3 of the book deals w/ alterting the investor to some of the areas where company mgmt can play games w/ the #s in order to goose the stock price. the examples were helpful, but the insights were not exactly earth shattering for experienced investors.

however, the last 1/3 of the book, on forecasts & security analysis, is worth the price of the book. in 100pgs, you get an MBA-level text on security / credit / financial statement analysis, complete w/ ratio definitions, caveats(!), and applicability. excellent stuff for the beginning or experienced analyst, and i will doubtless refer to the last 1/3 time and again.