The second edition includes over 25 percent new and updated information including:

* New information on the separate accounting and financial reporting standards for private/small businesses versus public/large businesses
* Updated information that reflects the 2007 law on international financial reporting standards
* New content to match SEC and other governmental regulatory changes over the past three years
* New information about how the analyst-corporate connection has actually changed the playing field
* The impact of corporate communications and new technologies
* New examples that reflect the current trends
* Updated websites and resources

Want to make sense of financial reports? This easy-to-follow guide gives you a set of tools to understand these complicated statements, helping you read between the lines to determine a company's true financial health. You'll make informed decisions about investing, spot possible problems, and use these reports to manage your own department or company for success.

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Get down to reporting basics — recognize different business types and how their structure affects the books, and grasp the accounting method underlying it all
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Analyze the annual report — make sense of the balance sheet, income and cash flow statements, and the notes while spotting red flags
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Know your numbers — keep an eye on whether a company is making a profit or suffering a loss
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Understand how companies optimize operations — use reports to measure how efficiently management is using its resources
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Meet the financial watchdogs — from auditors to analysts, see who certifies report accuracy and how recent scandals have changed the rules
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Practice makes perfect — put your skills to the test by dissecting the annual reports of two similar companies throughout the book
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Open the book and find:
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The accounting basics necessary to understand financial reports
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New information on reporting standards for private/small versus public/large businesses
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Updates surrounding the 2007 law on international financial reporting standards
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The impact of corporate communications and new technologies
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New real-world examples that reflect current trends
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Updated Web sites and resources
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Tips for spotting the fluff in financial reports