This book is a survival toolkit on the financial essentials. It assumes no specialised prior knowledge of finance and takes a guided step-by-step approach to all the techniques and concepts you need to understand, explaining the hows, whats and whys along the way. To make things even easier, it shows you how to use basic Excel spreadsheets to do all the calculations for you. Throughout the book, Richard Stutely shoes you how to crack the jargon and unveils shortcuts, tips and tricks that will make you look like a financial wizard. Features Every manager needs to know this stuff - and this is the only basic finance book they'll need to get on top of the numbers.* Offers explanations using a readable, common-sense approach that demystifies financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting and decision-making.* A practical and definitive step-by-step guide to preparing and using the numbers for all forms of management decision making.* Part of the highly successful and prestigious Definitive Guide Series that is relaunching and will be high profile from December 2006. Contents Part 1. Attaining mastery over numbers Chapter 1. The Journey Starts Here Chapter 2. Where Managers and Numbers Meet Chapter 3. How The Finance Director Thinks Chapter 4. The Financial Wizard¿s Toolbox Chapter 5. Taming Numbers Patr 2: Managing moneySecond Chapter 6. Keeping Score Chapter 7. How to Analyze Figures in the Fourth Dimension Chapter 8. How to Forecast Anything Chapter 9. Getting to Gross Profit Chapter 10. Creating Capital Chapter 11. Controlling Costs Part 3: Doing the numbers Chapter 12. Brilliant Budgets Chapter 13. Perfect Projects Chapter 14. Producing a Profit Chapter 15. Building a Balance Sheet Chapter 16. Controlling Cash Flow Part 4: Managing betterBy Chapter 17. Seeing the Big Picture Chapter 18. Making Better Financial Decisions Chapter 19. Managing the Numbers Chapter 20. When Things Go Wrong