Financial Management 101: Get a Grip on Your Business Numbers. 2nd ed.

Ann Turner is Financial and Budget Manager at the University of British
Columbia Library.

This second book in the Self-Counsel Press Numbers 101 for small business series builds on and applies the material covered in the first volume, Bookkeepers' Boot Camp, also by accountant and business consultant Angie Mohr. It shows the small business owner how the information gathered and organized by bookkeepers can be used to measure and monitor performance and make decisions that will keep the business healthy and growing.

Mohr writes clearly and succinctly for the busy owner/operator, with step-by-step examples to show the way and an ongoing case study of a typical one-man-and-wife business (Joe’s Plumbing) to illustrate what the techniques in each chapter can do to bring control to the business and some peace of mind to the owner. The chapters can be consulted individually, but the quality of the information warrants a complete read-through, both as a review and to pick up new ideas. The essentials are all there: budgeting; ratio analysis; cash flows; pricing of products and services (a new chapter in this 2nd ed.); key performance indicators; control of inventories, receivables and payables; ways to grow the business; borrowing and debt management; risks, including six big ones that don’t appear in the financial statements; hiring and evaluating employees; and the overall planning cycle.  An appendix includes templates for many of the worksheets and reports covered in the chapters, and more are available on the author’s website along with articles and other resources for the small business owner. The book concludes with an excellent glossary of business terms concisely explained in layman’s language.