Financial-ratio

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.

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). ....

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.

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.

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.

I ordered this book without getting the first book that goes along with it. Make certain you do, this is just a workbook.

This book is for someone that wants an overview style book. It reads as a novel, or loose conversation would be read. Not a textbook style (dry) book.

Dr. Alvarez and Mr. Fridson's book is a MUST READ not only for every finance professional...but for the average investor as well. By the use of real-life examples and fascinating stories, the authors present a compelling behind-the-scenes look at the world of corporate finance, and how financial statements can often deceive. In today's post-Enron world, this book is a must-have for anyone who dabbles in the market, even on a part-time basis.

What I enjoyed most about Financial Statement Analysis-a Practioner's Guide is the tone of the book...rather than your standard dry academic tome, the authors inform us through interesting stories, and speak WITH us rather than AT us. I find their approach extremely effective, given that this is the first finance related book I've ever read that didn't put me to sleep (I actually had a hard time putting it down).

As a financial professional, instructor and investor, I've applied many of the lessons taught in this book, and have begun recommending it to all of my classes, clients and colleagues. As such, I highly recommend it to anyone that is read for an eye-opening look at the world of corporate finance.

This may be a great book if you already know everything about finance. I've taken MBA level Finance courses, and quite honestly, I found this book difficult to understand. The author casually mentions financial concepts without defining them and expect you to understand complex financial theories he hasn't covered.

I tried to do the questions at the end of each chapter, and while there is an answer guide, it does nothing to explain how the answer was derived. How you get the answer is the important part, but this text won't give you any assistance. Plus, some of the answers were just plain wrong (I checked with several experts).

There are better texts out there - your time is better spent elsewhere.

If you read a financial text w/o checking the numbers, you wouldn't find the mistakes. This book has had too many, because I am checking the numbers. I had to cross reference this book with a Financial Accounting text b/c I kept thinking I was incorrect.

All I have to say is take a look at pages 100, 101, 102 for great examples of the many mistakes. I am not happy.

By the way, I picked up this book from a friend in order to gauge whether I would buy the new version. Guess what I am not going to buy?

Professor Helfert's graphic presentations have caused concepts to gel that were amorphous in my mind for years despite an investment banking background. I would recommend this book as a first book to anyone interested in quickly obtaining a bird's eye view of the business entity from a "business systems" approach. Helfert's position is that of an engineer or a scientist: Every business has a structure that can be indentified, analyzed, and then manipulated to increase shareholder value.

Every new issue refers back to the Investment, Operations, Financing structure Helfert lucidly charts out in the introductory chapter. If this is old hat to you, and you've read Corp. Fin. by Brealy & Meyers (sp?), maybe you don't need this book. All others: BUY IT!!!