One item you will commonly find on the balance sheet of a public listed company is goodwillTo many non-financially trained people, this is a confusing term

When you pick up an annual report, you would likely come across terms like “company”,“subsidiaries” , “associates” and “joint ventures” What do they mean, and how do they differ from each other

Cash is King Cash is king Cash is the life blood of the business

Make or Break Managing working capital is a critical component of financial management It can make or break a company

It costs your organisation a lot in terms of time and resources for your annual budgeting exercise Are you getting the most benefit from it, or is it only a form-filling formality initiated by finance department and begrudged by other department heads

by James Leong Chan Foo, Chartered Accountant (Australia) Uncertain economic times In the current challenging global economic environment, there is downward pressure on sales and margins The overall effect is an adverse impact on the bottom line, leading to lower profits or even losses

Understanding the relationships between costs, volume and selling price as well as comprehending cost behavior can help to steer your company better in these tough economic times Understanding Cost Behavior We know that certain costs in running a business are fixed, while others are variable Variable costs are those that vary with sales volume

Giving customers credit is a necessary part of business So is managing it

Many people have called the current global economic meltdown a financial tsunami Do you have the necessary financial intelligence to ride out these challenging economic waves to protect your company’s and your own financial interests