Financial intelligence : a manager's guide to knowing what the numbers really mean / Karen Berman and Joe Knight ; with John Case.

Includes index.

You can't always trust the numbers -- Spotting assumptions, estimates, and biases -- Why increase your financial intelligence? -- Profit is an estimate -- Cracking the code of the income statement -- Revenue : the issue is recognition -- Costs and expenses : no hard and fast rules -- The many forms of profit -- Understanding balance-sheet basics -- Assets : more estimates and assumptions (except for cash) -- On the other side : liabilities and equity -- Why the balance sheet balances -- The income statement affects the balance sheet -- Cash is a reality check -- Profit? : cash (and you need both) -- The language of cash flow -- How cash connects with everything else -- Why cash matters -- The power of ratios -- Profitability ratios : the higher the better -- Leverage ratios : the balancing act -- Liquidity ratios : can we pay our bills? -- Efficiency ratios : making the most of your assets -- The building blocks of roi -- Figuring roi : the nitty gritty -- The magic of managing the balance sheet -- Your balance sheet levers -- Homing in on cash conversion -- Financial literacy and corporate performance -- Financial literacy strategies -- Financial transparency : our ultimate goal.

Karen Berman and Joe Knight teach the basics of finance--but with a twist. Accountants rely on estimates, assumptions, and judgment calls. Savvy managers need to know how those sources of possible bias can affect the financials and that sometimes the numbers can be challenged. While providing the foundation for a deep understanding of the financial side of business, the book also arms managers with practical strategies for improving their companies' performance.