Creative Cash Flow Reporting: Uncovering Sustainable Financial Performance 1st Edition

My interest in understanding the intricacies of the Statement of Cash Flows is in determining if the dividend is safe. This is the perfect book to teach yourself how to determine the ability of a company to sustain and grow their common stock dividend. Lots of detail and examples. But this is not light reading....it does require careful thinking and contemplation.A couple of suggestions if the authors are reading. The book needs an edition update. There have been some FASB rule changes for operating cash flows since this book was published back in 2003.Also what would be very helpful is to point out where in the shareholder reports certain cash flow items can be found, perhaps with examples and copy/paste of the example stocks details as pulled from the quarterly or annual shareholder reports.But this is a must read for those who wish to live on the dividends their investments create.

This is not your typical accounting/finance book (i.e., unclear, unfocused and boring). Creative Cash Flow Reporting is the best and most important accounting/finance book I've read in many years. The authors are certainly focused on the right area (determining sustainable cash flow from operations). The interesting nuances of cash flow reporting are laid out in simple terms (e.g., debt funding and repayments are reported with Financing cash flows, but the related interest expense is reported with Operating cash flows). The authors also go beyond the numbers to provide good background re: a number of strategic alternatives (e.g., why one might enter into a sale/leaseback transaction). There are many other reasons to recommend the book.In summary, this book is a "must have" for accountants and financial analysts, and I would strongly recommend for CEOs, COOs, corporate and securities attorneys, and corporate middle managers.

Mulford's book is well written given the "dryness" of the content. Each chapter is well structured with examples and a summary with key points. The layout could be improved, especially the placement of tables which Mulford refers to but i guess its always an issue with any book. I particularly liked his writing style: Although dry at times it is almost always possible to follow him and comprehend his ideas. Although some topics, particularly in the end, are rather short in comparison to the main topic, namely discovering true sustainable cash flow, he never finishes any point raised in a superficial or over-generalized way. For some it might be rather tedious to get used to certain aspects of the book, namely the rather "accountant-like", i.e. dry and technical, writing style however at least i got used to it very fast. Mulford provides some work sheets to help the reader discovering sustainable cash flows for companies he/she plans to examine, too. Although i am a little bit skeptical in that regard, as it is, from my point of view, too focused on the numbers and less on the actual business and its environment but Mulford comments on this too (although not at length).I can highly recommend this book to any reader who is already familiar with financial accounting and who wishes to either refresh oder advance analyzing skills & understanding of the cash flow statement

gift

I took Professor Mulford's MBA courses at Georgia Tech and truly learned a lot from him. He is a great teacher and knows what he is talking about when it comes to GAAP reporting versus "other" kinds. His book will get you on the right track to uncovering the true value of company cash flows as well as uncovering accounting tricks and gimmicks.Forget what you think you know about accounting. His book and classes are a great bridge between theory and practice.

Messers Mulford and Comiskey have released a primer on what has lately become a messy subject. Unlike other books with a focus on cash--Hackel's book, for example--this one delves a little bit deeper into the subject of financial misreporting. The reader is given a synopsis of how companies say that their cash is operating, whereas it ought to be put under financing or investing cash flow. There is a multitude of similarly constructed arguments. The examples are lucid, apropos, and contemporary. The book also has a deterministic model for calculating CFFO. Read it.

If you do not understand accouting, you might struggle a bit with this book. Lots of examples and real life situtations where it could come in handy.

Excellent book on forensic accounting as it relates to investing. Mulford, Comiskey, and Schilit are great authors for those looking to learn how to analytically dissect financial statements.