Includes bibliographical references and index.

Why understand finance? -- Navigating the three major financial statements. Accounting methods ; The income statement ; The balance sheet ; The cash flow statement -- Using the statements to measure financial health. Profitability ratios ; Efficiency ratios ; Liquidity ratios ; Leverage rations ; Other ways to measure financial health -- Preparing a budget. Top-down versus bottom-up budgeting ; Getting started ; Articulating your assumptions ; Quantifying your assumptions -- Calculating return on investment. Costs and benefits ; Payback period ; Net present value and internal rate of return ; Break-even analysis ; Sensitivity analysis ; Evaluating unquantifiable costs and benefits -- Tracking performance. Performance of an investment ; Performance of an existing unit ; Forecasts -- Test yourself -- Answers to test questions -- Key terms -- Learn more -- Sources.

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