Cookin' the book$

by Don Silver

One of the areas of business on  which I spend a great deal of time is that of Ethics. It is my belief that  ethics is a process and that businesses do well when they treat that process the  same as any other business process; that is, they consciously build into the  policies, procedures and culture, the process whereby their organization will  choose between competing moral and/or economic values. Part of that process is  ensuring that all employees understand not only the reasons behind the process  and the moral values held by the company, but also the details of the process.

This is where Mr. Silver's book  comes in. Cleverly written and executed, this easy to read book provides a clear  understanding of the reasons for having a clear set of financial reports and how  to read those reports. The metaphor is that of a Corporate Chef and his cooking  exploits. The lessons are how to read a financial statement with an eye to  understanding if the Chef is hiding harmful ingredients or omitting important  ones. Silver makes what is for most folks a dry and eye-glazing topic  interesting, understandable, and most importantly, useful. Every employee of a  publicly held company (perhaps especially the accounting team) should read this  book and be willing to question the finance and operations team about their own  company's reporting procedures. Every person who is not well trained in  corporate finance and who owns corporate stocks should also read this book. It  will make each of us more aware of how the dinner might be prepared and give us  a chance to fathom how our companies are actually cooking the meals (or books,  to continue the metaphor).

In short, this clever, clearly  written book provides insight to the lay person on how, if we had all been  watching, we might have avoided the recent lapses in financial reporting which  have brought down large public corporations. And perhaps we might even have  avoided some of our own disappointing investments. Get it, if for no other  reason than to provide it to your employees, family, and friends. This book will  pull your financial bacon out of the fire!

[Click on the book  image to see it at Amazon]
 

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