Business-valuation

I found this book very helpful in understanding the issues and 'gotchas' to the financial aspects of a divorce settlement. I followed much of the advice given and it really helped me create a fair settlement through a difficult and messy divorce. I'm three years post divorce now and still feel very positive about the results.

This is a required text for Bussiness Analysis and Valuation at the University of Western Australia, so unfortunately I had to read it.
This book explains everything in a very long winded, round about way, making simple ideas difficult to comprehend. There are no key points that are highlighted seperate from the main body of witing, making revision tedious. The exercises at the back of this book often miss out vital parts of the question, or have errors, making them impossible to do with out the solutions, that do not come with book.
If possible I would highly recommend that you avoid this book.

The book spans from the introduction of financial statements to the theory and application of complex accounting analysis and valuation. It brings both fields together in accounting based valuation. It has a good structure, many examples, is clearly written (albeit at times lenghty), and is very rich in substance.

What I really liked about the text, though, is that it is grounded in principles and uses these to take you through many of the currently relevant, controversial and complex accounting issues many of us who have been dealing with the subject matters will have run into. This will make you think these issues through and reach an informed opinion.

This is by far the best one available in the market. Each chapter is well structured and tied together. You can not afford to miss any of them to get a good understanding of this topic. Basic finance background is needed to benefit from this book. Great insight and understanding.

For this specialized topic, this book is either too introductory or the contents are not organized well. I will be surprised if anyone can value a bank, or even get close to valuation, after reading this book. If you are interested in bank valuation, I recommend Commercial Bank Valuation by Miller.

When the corporate accounting scandals were coming fast and furious in the last two years, one seemed to quickly blur into another-- Enron, Adelphia, Rite-Aid, Tyco, Worldcom etc. etc.--until the whole thing was a steaming mass of financial ruin and wrongdoing beyond comprehension. Michelle Leder has plunged into that morass and come out with a book that that elucidates in clear, conversational prose how these companies bilked investors with a mind-boggling array of accounting shennanigans. Financial Fineprint decodes the arcane language and structure of securities filings to help individual investors spot the red flags that can help them avoid throwing money at the next Enron or Worldcom. Much of that trouble is hidden, of course, in the footnotes, which Leder puts under a powerful magnifying glass to reveal the perils within. I found the chapter on pensions especially eye-opening, a land of accounting make-believe unto itself. A must read for anyone who wants to understand where the money went during the 90s boom and how to avoid a repeat of financial disaster.

Is there any way an ordinary investor can protect themselves from shady corporate accounting? YES!! Michelle Leder's book Financial Fineprint has given me the tools to become a better investor.

Not only does she do an excellent job of breaking down annual reports and SEC filings in a very organized and clearly written manner , she also provides an invaluable service by guiding the reader through the footnotes of financial statements, pointing out indicators of accounting tricks and obscuring tactics. Ms. Leder gives the average investor the means to find out for themselves about the companies they invest with. I can now spot those Inflated profits, questionable related party transactions, hidden expenses, etc., before I decide to buy a particular stock.

This book is not simply a "How to" book, however, as it is written in a more narrative and reader friendly style, with personal accounts and fun annecdotes.

I highly reccomend this book for anyone who wants to have as much knowledge at their fingertips as possible before making important financial decisions.

Hard to believe that a financial how-to-book like this would be a page
turner. But, I thoroughly enjoyed this easy-to-read, timely and well
written book.

Leder's tactics and strategies for lay investors are
invaluable. She provides the insight and perspective of a professional
analyst.

"Bottom Line" a book well worth the investment.

I think that more than ever the financial markets are really interconnected, and especially with credit-driven events. This book ties all the pieces together in a very useful way.

Beaumont's greatest strength is not so much in the text (though the writing is solid) as in his creative use of charts and pictures that tell the story as well as (or ever better than) the exposition. Useful for the neophyte and the professional.

Like I suppose most other finance professionals, I had often considered certain assets as best belonging within their own separate universe; stocks are stocks, bonds are bonds, etc., and 'never the twain shall meet'. For the first time that at least I'm aware of, Beaumont has shown how useful and insightful it can be to approach markets from the viewpoint of showing how much they have in common as opposed to how different they are. In doing this he succeeds in both providing a way to think creatively about financial engineering as well as how to innovatively think about risk and return in an everyday portfolio management context. In short, I found the book to be very well written, concise, logical, and plain smart.

I read this book halfway through. The subject is very interesting and makes totally sense. But since English is not my first language, the reading is quite tough.
The book provides a lot of background information regarding accounting, which our accounting professor didn't bother to talk about. For example how the guilds were organized in the dark ages in Europe (and still are organised in Germany of today).
You should have some background in process automation and cybernetics or accounting.

Dr. Westland provides a well argued case for replacing existing corporate valuation methods with the Financial Dynamics system described in his book.

A marvelous review of the problems of current financial valuation methods, and Westland's solution to their shortcomings.