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Here's what they are saying about Financial Intelligence: "CFOs who want to promote financial literacy among the non-financial managers they work with might consider recommending this book. It reads easily without dumbing down, and it's comprehensive." — CFO.com "On any given subject, it's safe to say that most people don't know what they're talking about. That goes double for finance and accounting, a subject that leaves many nonprofessionals trembling. Take pity, and give them a copy of Financial Intelligence: A Manager's Guide to Understanding What the Numbers Really Mean." — Accounting Today

"Financial Intelligence is an impressive compendium of guidelines and information including the basics of financial measurement, reading income statements, balancing sheets, cash flow statements, separating hard data from the assumptions and estimates, the mechanics of analysis, calculating ratios, return on investment, working on capital, knowing the difference between cash and profit, financial literacy and transparency and how to recognize how the two can boost performance." — Midwest Book Review, California Bookwatch

Here's why we think everyone should build their Financial Intelligence®:

Managers in every business are expected to use financial data to make decisions, allocate resources, and budget expenses. But the truth is, many are uncomfortable applying the most basic financial tools in their day-to-day work. Even managers who consider themselves financially savvy may not understand what goes into a financial statement, and so may take the numbers as gospel when they should be questioning them.

In Financial Intelligence, Karen Berman and Joe Knight present the essentials of finance, but with an extra dimension. Succinct, easy-to-read chapters teach the fundamentals in a way that everyone can understand and put to work right away. But the authors also take you behind the scenes to show you where the numbers come from. Since nobody can quantify everything, accountants and finance executives always rely on estimates, assumptions, and judgment calls, which can skew the numbers in one direction or another. This book helps you recognize and understand those biases, challenge or correct for them when necessary, and use this information to be a better manager.

Based on their work training tens of thousands of managers and employees at many leading organizations, Berman and Knight provide readers with a deep understanding of:

• The basics of financial measurement: reading income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and more
• The art of finance: separating hard data from assumptions and estimates
• The mechanics of analysis: calculating ratios, return on investment, and working capital
• Cash and profit: knowing how these terms differ, and why cash is suddenly the "hot" number in corporate boardrooms and on Wall Street
• Financial literacy and transparency: recognizing how they can boost performance

Accessible, jargon-free, and filled with entertaining stories from real companies, Financial Intelligence will help non-financial managers add substantially more to their company's — and their own — success. If you have ever wanted to "talk numbers" confidently with your colleagues, this is the book for you.

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