About the book
2 + 2 = 1
For Financial Decision Makers
Clarity for non-finance business managers
As a non-finance manager you deserve to be proactive with the numbers of your business — not left asking what happened after the fact.
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The idea
Written for the manager who isn’t an accountant.
This book is written for every non-finance manager and professional who wants to understand the meaning behind their business financials. Even if the balance sheet, the profit and loss report and the cashflow statement send a shiver down your spine, this practical guide takes you step by step to unlock the secrets behind the numbers — so you can make high impact in the boardroom of your business.
Nicky’s approach draws on decades of practical, versatile experience as an accounts professional in commerce and industry. It covers accounting fundamentals, budgeting and cashflow management, and reveals your business’s profitability. Even for a busy manager, the essential tools for better financial decisions are all here — in plain English, followed by worked examples.
What it answers
If any of these have ever caught you out — they’re all in here.
- 001The difference between profit and cashflow
- 002Turnover versus cost of goods
- 003Gross margin versus net margin
- 004What belongs in the balance sheet, and what belongs in the profit and loss
- 005Accruals and prepayments — which way round they go
- 006Cost of capital, and how capital expenditure decisions get made
- 007How your business is funded
- 008How to keep cashflow adequate, month after month
plain English, then a worked example — every time
Contents
Eleven chapters, front to back.
- 01Introduction: Where did it all start?
- 02The Regulatory Paradigm of Accounting
- 03Accounting Relationships and Financial Systems
- 04The Role of the Income Statement
- 05Kick Start: Business Statement of Financial Position
- 06The Cashflow Formula
- 07Dynamic Ratio Analysis
- 08Key Performance Indicators
- 09Financial and Cost Management of your Business
- 10Appraisal of Capital Investment Projects
- 11Case Study
Foreword by Raymond Aaron — New York Times bestselling author.
MPHIL · FCCA · MAAT
About the author
Nicky J Menakaya
Nicky is a professional accountant — a Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and a member of the Association of Accounting Technicians (MAAT). She is a strategic financial management consultant, trainer, lecturer, writer and financial health coach, and her practice works as an interface: helping companies gain clarity, increase profitability and reach their business goals.
She has built extensive and versatile experience in financial management over three decades, across commerce, industry and the corporate civil service. She started in retail banking before becoming a professional accountant, and gained entrepreneurial experience as an interface accountant on financial systems implementation projects.
Nicky has worked as a financial management support consultant across the United Kingdom — from local authorities to academic institutions — building detailed understanding of business financial drivers and supporting new operational initiatives through change. She also lectures on government apprenticeship programmes that produce distinction-grade students in the accounting technician qualifications.
This book draws directly on that work: the questions corporate managers and professionals kept asking her. It’s written jargon-free, in plain language, and can be read straight through like a story.
Nicky lives in Essex with her family. She serves non-profit organisations as a non-executive director, board member and treasurer, is a team warden in her local Grays Thurrock Team Ministry and a member of the Parochial Church Council. With any spare time, she enjoys the theatre and West End shows.
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Clarity and confidence, in one read.
Take the book home — then bring your questions to a free discovery call. Best homework you’ll ever be set.
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