HBR Guide to Finance Basics for Managers (HBR Guide Series)
- Downloads：1802
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-09 05:51:48
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Harvard Business School Press
- ISBN：1422187306
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
DON’T LET YOUR FEAR OF FINANCE GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR SUCCESS
Can you prepare a breakeven analysis？ Do you know the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet？ Or understand why a business that’s profitable can still go belly-up？ Has your grasp of your company’s numbers helped—or hurt—your career？
Whether you’re new to finance or you just need a refresher， this go-to guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to master the fundamentals， as all good managers must。
The HBR Guide to Finance Basics for Managers will help you:
• Learn the language of finance
• Compare your firm’s financials with rivals’
• Shift your team’s focus from revenues to profits
• Assess your vulnerability to industry downturns
• Use financial data to defend budget requests
• Invest smartly through cost/benefit analysis
Can you prepare a breakeven analysis？ Do you know the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet？ Or understand why a business that’s profitable can still go belly-up？ Has your grasp of your company’s numbers helped—or hurt—your career？
Whether you’re new to finance or you just need a refresher， this go-to guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to master the fundamentals， as all good managers must。
The HBR Guide to Finance Basics for Managers will help you:
• Learn the language of finance
• Compare your firm’s financials with rivals’
• Shift your team’s focus from revenues to profits
• Assess your vulnerability to industry downturns
• Use financial data to defend budget requests
• Invest smartly through cost/benefit analysis
Reviews
Anwar Robinson
，
Comprehensive Pocket Guide for ManagersIf you’re inexperienced in finance， this is a great crash course and reference guide， especially the glossary。 It is best to refer to and retake the quizzes， as well。
Rafael Silva Manojlovic
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This book is pretty good if you are getting in touch with financial terms and business analysis for the first time。It is not a book by a single author， it is a compendium of analyzes by different experts and is very well sequenced， which makes it less burdensome to read。I like that at the beginning you have a test of 10 questions and it gives you an idea of how much you know about the subject， and then at the end you apply it again。 In my case， for being the first time that I got into these co This book is pretty good if you are getting in touch with financial terms and business analysis for the first time。It is not a book by a single author， it is a compendium of analyzes by different experts and is very well sequenced， which makes it less burdensome to read。I like that at the beginning you have a test of 10 questions and it gives you an idea of how much you know about the subject， and then at the end you apply it again。 In my case， for being the first time that I got into these concepts seriously， I got from a 1/10 to a 6/10 at the end of the book。The main focus is to explain what they are， how they should be read and what kind of decisions you can make from the readings of the financial statements: Balance Sheet， Income Statement and the Cash Flow Statement。 For example， the main financial ratios that you should take into account when making decisions are analyzed: EBIT， ROA， Gross Profit Margin， etc。There are some chapters focused on the importance of analyzing the Income Statement， as the most important report for a manager to make operational decisions， since it contains direct information for the generation of income and budget control。On the other hand， analyzes are made to know how we know if a company is making money or not， through growth indicators， cash generation and return on assets。For companies that handle subscription models there is an excellent review of how Down Jones went from the traditional scheme to the digital one， maintaining the same working capital that allowed it to remain the same or even more profitable than similar print media that also switched to digital models。It contains chapters dedicated to the economic analysis of projects taking into account the internal rate of return， net present value， rate of return， etc。Finally， just as it indicates what the financial statements tell you and how reliable they are， they also dedicate several sections to explain what those statements DO NOT say and the five traps that financiers fall into to manipulate these reports and make see a different reality of the company 。 。。。more
Saurabh
，
Highly recommended for managers who do not have a formal background in Finance。
Darya
，
#bookstoread Harvard Business Review got a fantastic #book "Finance Basics for Managers" that uncovers the hidden secrets behind the world on numbers！ Here is what you will learn: 👇1。Understand and read the language of finance and accounting2。Compare your company's results with competitors。 Make decisions3。Shift focus from #revenue to #profits4。See， assess and #calculate #risks in industry downturns5。Prepare and work on efficient #budgets6。Invest smartly in your company and in acquisitions7。Sell #bookstoread Harvard Business Review got a fantastic #book "Finance Basics for Managers" that uncovers the hidden secrets behind the world on numbers！ Here is what you will learn: 👇1。Understand and read the language of finance and accounting2。Compare your company's results with competitors。 Make decisions3。Shift focus from #revenue to #profits4。See， assess and #calculate #risks in industry downturns5。Prepare and work on efficient #budgets6。Invest smartly in your company and in acquisitions7。Sell your ideas in #ROI#finance #accounting #businessbook #management #learning #professionaldevelopment #education #entrepreneurshiphttps://www。linkedin。com/posts/dariya。。。 。。。more
Suresh S
，
Excellent read for engineers on finance concepts。。
mike powers
，
Just enough finance info to be dangerous！
Rahul Suresh Ghali
，
Very good read for beginners。。Very good read for beginners trying to acquire fundamentals of Finance。。 Examples are very simple and one can relate to it with ease。
Cydney Reads
，
Required ReadingAlthough this book was required reading I really enjoyed it。 The book not only explained the basic terms and tools of business， but as the reader I was able to read it and not get the textbook type of voice， but something that told more of a story interwoven with real life cases。
Davin
，
Goodreads either for rookies or professional。
Faye
，
Very good review of foundational business finance。 I especially enjoyed some of the examples cited along the way to illustrate key concepts。
Isabela Perez
，
Muy útil
Ryan Reslan
，
A great intro into finance for new managers！
Nabeel Mk
，
Somewhat does what it says: Decoding the jargons。 Till preparing budgets it was crisp。 After that， it is just a quick read with not much to learn。
Jay
，
Not that useful of a read。 It cautions on assumptions with different cash flow/profit scenarios that appear positive/negative but are really the opposite。
Mark Muckerman
，
The "HBR Guide to" series is always reliable in content， applicability and （usually） ease of understanding for the non-expert。 Finance Basics is also in that vein: Content is good; basic; clear， etc。 However I'm going with 3 stars vs。 4 because as a non-finance guy （I get the numbers， I get the need， I get the value） the overall concepts and use-case applications could have been presented a little more explicitly to account for a more diversified learning-style reader audience。I see this one as The "HBR Guide to" series is always reliable in content， applicability and （usually） ease of understanding for the non-expert。 Finance Basics is also in that vein: Content is good; basic; clear， etc。 However I'm going with 3 stars vs。 4 because as a non-finance guy （I get the numbers， I get the need， I get the value） the overall concepts and use-case applications could have been presented a little more explicitly to account for a more diversified learning-style reader audience。I see this one as a book I'll need to read about every 6 months to constantly ingest and digest more through repetition。 。。。more
Noah Skocilich
，
Good for what it was - a quick ‘for dummies’ primer on the basics of business finance。I feel empowered and enriched by having spent the hour or so it took to read it。 I feel like I understand much better how my managers are seeing the company I work for and how their goals and objectives are framed。
mukda teeralertpanich
，
This book covers all financial basics and not too hard for the starters。Some parts are boring and full of specific financial words。
Hassan Alamri
，
Good book for providing the basics for non- financials。 It focuses on understanding the 3-financial statements in addition to the profitability ratios。 Highly recommend for understanding the basics。
James
，
Good but I hate finance。 Basics covered so I now know what my bosses are talking about without looking like an idiot most of the time。 Took me a bloody long time to finish such a small book。Don't recommend reading in bed。 Good but I hate finance。 Basics covered so I now know what my bosses are talking about without looking like an idiot most of the time。 Took me a bloody long time to finish such a small book。Don't recommend reading in bed。 。。。more
Giancarlo
，
Finance is pretty simple！ This book is the bible to use it in order to manage your business。 Great book。
Jamil Almatrafi
，
Very beneficial for managers who are seeking to improve their financial knowledge。
Azael Capetillo
，
Good basic book on finance， will help you understand basic， and important， principles of financial management。
Joe Murphy
，
To supplement Corporate Financial Mgmt reading
Amelia
，
Great intro for anyone in business who doesn't have a finance background。 And if you do， there are still many gems here。 Great intro for anyone in business who doesn't have a finance background。 And if you do， there are still many gems here。 。。。more
Derek Emerson
，