My Guides to KPIs and Cash Flow
Other eBooks
The eBooks below are text versions of my popular courses.
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Analyzing Whether to Add New Locations
A new location is a major commitment of time and money with the potential to expand a company’s business and increase profits.
New locations also come with risks. Sales may be lower than expected while costs are higher. The new location may pull more resources from existing operations and strategy than anticipated.
I'll give you step-by-step guidance on how to decide whether a new location will likely increase profits or destroy value.
" A lot of very useful and insightful information and tips for analysis." - Course Review
Length: 119 Pages
Section 1: Welcome and Overview
- Welcome and Overview
- Are You Ready to Grow?
- Profit or Cash Flow Analysis
Section 2: Revenue and Expenses
- Estimating Revenues
- Buy or Lease the New Location?
- Building Loan Considerations
- Expenses
Section 3: Analysis
- Net Contribution and Cash Flow Analysis
- Modeling Scenarios with Scenario Manager
- Break-Even Analysis
- Using Excel Goal Seek for Break-Even Analysis
- Two-Variable Analysis and Beyond
- Analysis Metrics
- Avoiding Decision Mistakes
Section 4: Key Takeaways
- Key Takeaways
Better Budgeting
Are you tired of the drama and dysfunction in the business budgeting process? Budgeting consumes a massive amount of time and resources. It's a stressful and busy time.
Are there ways to improve the effectiveness of the investment we make in the budget process? Can we make better budgeting decisions that lead to higher performance?
There are options within and beyond traditional budgeting. Every company should consider these options to discover which could improve their budgeting process.
"Well organized, thoroughly researched, and full of actionable insight. Outstanding and kudos to the author, thanks for doing this." - Course Review
Length: 295 Pages
Section 1: Budgeting Benefits, Challenges, and Basics
- Welcome and Overview
- Benefits of Budgeting
- Budgeting Challenges
- Modeling Revenues and Costs
- Ways to Project Numbers
Section 2: The Master Budget and Sub-Budgets
- The Master Budget and Its Sub-Budgets
- The Revenue Budget
- The Production Budgets
- Sales and Marketing Budgets
- The Administration Budget
- Capital Budgeting
- The Financing Budget
- Master Budget Recap
- Budgeting Compensation
Section 3: The Budgeting Process
- Budgeting and Strategic Planning
- Top-Down or Bottom-Up Budgeting?
- The Budget Process—Start to Finish
- Testing Budgets
- Budget Reporting
- Budgeting Tools
Section 4: Budgeting Alternatives
- Rolling Forecasts
- Flexible Budgeting
- Activity-Based Budgeting
- Driver-Based Budgeting
- Zero-Based Budgeting
- Conditional Budgeting
- Value Proposition Budgeting
- Operating Without a Budget
Section 5: Key Takeaways
- Key Takeaways
Business Loan Basics
Business loans are a vital source of funding for cash flow management. The course begins with ratio analysis and cash flow projections to determine whether loan funding is needed. I then explain how leverage (the use of borrowed funds) magnifies returns but increases risk.
We then explore key loan components like different ways interest is calculated, types of fees, and the multiple terms that can be structured into a loan.
You’ll discover tips that might reduce the interest rate on your loan. I give an overview of the application process and the documents lenders frequently request.
Key documents that are signed at loan closing are described, and the importance of each is explained. I’ll point out important clauses included in these documents.
"Great information. Well written and explained in a thorough manner." – Course Review
Length: 91 Pages
Section 1: When and Where to Get Business Loans
- Introduction
- When Should You Get a Loan?
- Cash Metrics
- Cash Flow Projection: The gold standard for estimating your
future cash needs
- Cash Flow Projection
- Leverage: Magnifying your Returns - and Your Risk
- Where to Get Loans
Section 2: Loan Terms, Interest, and Fees
- Principal and Interest
- Loan Terms
- Types of Loans
- Fees
Section 3: Getting the Best Pricing and the Application
Process
- The Application Process: Navigating the Maze
- Getting the Best Pricing You Can
- Underwriting: How lenders determine if you qualify for a loan
- Government Loan Programs
- Loan Documents: Know what you're signing and what to pay
attention to
- Financial Statement Presentation
Marginal Profitability Analysis
Marginal Profitability Analysis provides relevant decision information for setting prices, product design and product profitability. Analysis of whether to open or close locations or divisions can also be done with marginal profitability analysis.
The course provides practical examples of making decisions with marginal profitability analysis. Examples include determining optimal production amounts and which products to promote. The final section explains how to calculate the change in profitability from a price increase and a price decrease. A worksheet template is provided for this analysis.
"Great representation of daily decision making in real business scenarios." - Course Review
Length: 57 Pages
Introduction
- Welcome to the Course
Section 1: Defining Marginal Costs and Profit
- Types of Costs
- Marginal Costs and Profits
Section 2. Marginal Profit Calculation
- Marginal Profit Calculation
- Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) Analysis
Section 3. Marginal Profit and Activity-Based Costing (ABC)
- Traditional and Activity-Based Costing
- Marginal Costing vs. ABC
Section 4. Practical Applications of Marginal Profitability
Part I: How Much to Produce?
- How Much To Produce - Cost Curves
- Example Analysis of Which Product To Produce
Section 5. Practical Applications of Marginal Profitability
Part II: Setting Pricing
- Key Factors of Profitability
Section 6. Pricing Analysis
- Pricing Decrease Analysis
- Pricing Increase Analysis
Conclusion & Take-aways
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)
What performance secret can you learn from Google, Intel, and Intuit?
Objectives and Key Results, also known as OKRs, have become very popular as a way to improve company performance. They have powered success at companies like Google, Intel, and Intuit.
OKRs can improve focus, engagement, innovation, and performance. I'll walk you step-by-step through how to implement OKRs at your company.
"Great ways to measure and score key initiatives that a company wants to achieve. Every company would be better off using Objectives and Key Results." - Course Review
"Well organized. The writing is easy to understand. I did not know about OKRs before, but this content has made me think about company objectives in a new way." - Course Review
Length: 72 Pages
Section 1: The Benefits and Basics of OKRs
- Welcome and Overview
- Benefits
- History of OKRs
- OKRs and Strategy
- Objectives
- Key Results
Section 2. The OKR Cycle
- The OKR Cycle
- Setting OKRs
- Stretch Goals
- Scoring
Section 3. Managing with OKRs
- Coordination and Alignment
- Compensation and Management
- Reporting Tools Options
Section 4. Key Takeaways
- Key Takeaways
Pricing for Profitability
Will your price change increase - or destroy - profit? I'll walk you through how to see price changes from your customers' eyes and measure potential profit outcomes from a price change.
"Companies that actively pursue pricing as an important part of their strategy typically outperform industry peers on several financial metrics… Companies that are pricing leaders are 26 percent better at managing true profitability." - Deloitte pricing effectiveness benchmark study
Length: 188 Pages
Section 1: Welcome and Overview
- Welcome and Overview
Section 2: Pricing Profitability Analysis and Processes
- Cost-Plus Pricing
- Pricing Financial Analysis
- Break-Even Analysis
- Using Excel Goal Seek for Break-Even Analysis
- Two-Variable Analysis
- Pricing and Utilization
Section 3: Pricing Profitably for Your Product's Value
- Value-Based Pricing
- Communicating Value to Customers and Staff
- Pricing Differentiation Concepts
- Price Differentiation and Price Structure Examples
- Estimating the Price-Response Curve
- Pricing Ethics
Section 4: Pricing Profitably in the Face of Competition
- Competition-Driven Pricing
- Pricing During Competitive Pressure
- Types of Pricing Strategies
- Discounting
Section 5: Key Takeaways
- Key Takeaways
SBA Loans: Funding and Resources for Small Businesses
Discover SBA loan programs and resources that could help your business. This course helps business owners and their advisors better understand the purpose of SBA loan programs, who's eligible, and whether U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans are the right funding for the business.
Understanding all the SBA loan programs, where to get more info, and where to find lenders can be daunting. I'll give you two template that summarize this for you and help you quickly get the information you need.
"Excellent and up-to-date summary of SBA loans. I enjoyed the text-based material and writing of the teacher. Helpful references to online resources." - Course Review
Length: 80 Pages
Section 1: Basic Information About Loans and the SBA
- Welcome and Overview
- Some Loan Basics
- About the SBA
- The Players in the SBA Loan Process
- General Eligibility Requirements
- The Application Process
Section 2. SBA Loan Programs
- The Standard 7(a) Program
- 7(a) Specialized Programs and Pilot Programs
- The 504 Loan Program
- Other Loan Programs
Section 3. Recap of Key Concepts
- Pros and Cons of SBA Loans
- Key Takeaways