Contents -- Introduction -- 01 What is strategy? What does financial strategy mean? -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- Definitions of 'financial', 'strategy' and 'strategic' -- Further strategy-related definitions -- What is business strategy? -- What is the objective of financial strategy? -- Why be in business? -- Conclusion -- 02 Financial strategy: Why be in business? -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- What do successful companies say? -- How does making a return on investment link with strategy? -- What successful companies say -- Making a good return is the objective, but what exactly is ROI? -- Strategic drivers of ROI -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- 03 Basic financial reports and concepts -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- The importance of cash records and reports -- Bedrock concepts -- Income statement - the P&L account -- Statement of financial position - the balance sheet -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- 04 What underpins financial statements? -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- Company law and directors' responsibilities -- Record keeping/bookkeeping -- Internal controls - accounting systems and procedures - prevention of error and fraud -- External and internal audit - prevention of error and fraud -- Corporate governance -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- 05 Accounting 'rules': How accounting theory and rules affect the strategic numbers -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- Background to accounting standards -- What do GAAP, FASB, IASB and IFRS mean? -- Principal accounting concepts - going concern and accruals -- How the concepts impact on the figures (and restrain some behaviour) -- GAAP, which may cause issues with strategies -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- Appendix.

06 Published or statutory accounts -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- What extant accounting standards require -- Balance sheets - statements of financial position -- Notes to financial statements -- UK full financial statements -- Developments in financial reporting -- The strategic report -- Future developments -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- 07 Interpreting financial statements -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- Techniques for interpreting financial statements -- Ratio analysis -- Working capital ratios -- Analytical review -- External ratios -- Why we have to disclose ratios -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- 08 Cash: the vital element -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- Where cash appears in financial statements -- Cash flows for trading - working capital -- Insolvency - going concern - overtrading -- Capital cash flows -- Statement of cash flows -- Cash-flow-focused strategies -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- 09 Management accounting: Internal reports and business models -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- The wide scope of management accounting -- Cautionary words on modelling -- Management reports - to assist with understanding strategy and its delivery -- Sales and costing definitions and models -- KPIs, dashboards and detailed analysis -- Analytics - can there be too much analysis? -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- 10 Budgeting -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- What does budgeting mean? -- Forecasting methods -- Why budget? -- Methods of budgeting -- Budget culture -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- 11 Investment appraisal: Investment strategy -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- The need for investment appraisal -- The time value of money and required rates -- Cash flow models.

Common appraisal measures -- Risk identification and management -- How much analysis should be carried out? -- The need for a consistent and robust process -- The many uses of appraisal models -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- 12 Structural or pure financial strategies -- Content, order and logic of this chapter -- Basic definitions -- Gearing or leverage and the 'magic' of gearing -- Leasing and off-balance sheet finance -- Group structures -- Special purpose vehicles or entities - off-balance sheet activities -- Foreign currency issues -- Hedging strategies -- Conclusion -- Revision and learning pointers -- 13 Summary -- What are your company objectives - where do you fit in? -- Strategies both financial and physical to support objectives -- Links between the book's chapters and strategies -- Are your strategies co-coordinated and aligned? -- Aphorisms -- Glossary -- References -- Index.