This is primarily for small and medium-sized business owners, and also applicable to employees promoted to senior positions from non-financial backgrounds.

Business and Financial Guidance

1. Tax-related: See Section 5 (Tax Section)
2. Outline of Accounting.
3. Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss Accounts, Income Statements, Partnership Accounts, Published Cash Flow Statements: Understanding in depth.
4. Gross and Net Profit (both total and per unit), Return on Capital Employed.
5. Budgets: Preparation, Zero-Based, Rolling, Flexed, Comparison with actual, and Variances Interpretation.
6. Costing Products.
7. Manufacturing / Service Industry: Businesses selling the skills of their people, Overhead Recovery Rates, Activity-Based Costing.
8. Measuring Performance: Productivity and Benchmarking.
9. Cash Flow Issues vs Profit: You can make profits and still go out of business.
10. Dividends vs Retained Earnings, Rent, Selling Assets.
11. Business Plans: For loans, buying, or expanding a business.
12. Sole Trader, Contractor, Partnership, or Company Group: The issues.
13. Incentives: Commission, Bonus, Profit Share, Shares.
14. Investment Appraisal: Should I/we buy this business or piece of equipment, or introduce or continue with this product?
15. All the terms you want to understand: One owner said, “For the first time, I was able to ask my accountant searching questions and understand the answers.” An engineer promoted to director said, “I went to my latest board meeting and contributed to discussions on performance. Previously, I kept quiet, not wanting to embarrass myself.”