Tage C. Tracy & John A. Tracy 
Cash Flow For Dummies 

The fast and easy way to grasp cash flow management

Cash Flow For Dummies offers small business owners,
accountants, prospective entrepreneurs, and others responsible for
cash management an informational manual to cash flow basics and
proven success strategies. Cash Flow For Dummies is an essential
guide to effective strategies that will make your business more
appealing on the market. Loaded with valuable tips and techniques,
it teaches individuals and companies the ins and outs of maximizing
cash flow, the fundamentals of cash management, and how it affects
the quality of a company’s earnings.

Cash flow is the movement of cash into or out of a business,
project, or financial product. It is usually measured during a
specified, finite period of time, and can be used to measure rates
of return, actual liquidity, real profits, and to evaluate the
quality of investments. Cash Flow For Dummies gives you an
understanding of the basic principles of cash management and its
core principles to facilitate small business success.

* Covers how to read cash flow statements

* Illustrates how cash balances are analyzed and
monitored–including internal controls over cash receipts and
disbursements, plus bank account reconciliation and activity
analysis

* Tips on how to avoid the pitfalls of granting
credit–evaluating customer credit, sources of credit
information, and overall credit policy

* Advice on how to prevent fraud and waste

* Covers cash-generating tactics when doing business with
dot-coms, other start-ups, and bankrupt customers

Cash Flow For Dummies is an easy-to-understand guide that
covers all of these essentials for success and more.

Table of Content

Introduction 1

Part I: Fitting Cash Flow into the Big Picture of Running a
Business 7

Chapter 1: Getting in Sync with the Rhythm of Cash 9

Chapter 2: Why Accrual Accounting Is Essential 23

Chapter 3: The Big Three Financial Statements 37

Chapter 4: Getting a Grip on the Statement of Cash Flows 59

Part II: Using Financial Statements to Assess Cash Health
81

Chapter 5: Mining the Balance Sheet for Cash 83

Chapter 6: Digging Deeper into Cash Flow 113

Chapter 7: Understanding Liquidity versus Available Cash 131

Part III: Getting Intimate with Your Company’s Cash Flow
Needs 157

Chapter 8: Creating a Business Plan to Secure Cash 159

Chapter 9: Building Best-in-Class Projection Models to Manage
Cash 173

Chapter 10: Identifying and Securing External Sources of Capital
193

Chapter 11: Knowing When to Use Debt to Finance Your Business
213

Part IV: Managing Your Business with Cash Flow in Mind
239

Chapter 12: Covering the Basics of Cash and Cash Activity
241

Chapter 13: Preventing Cash Losses from Embezzlement and Fraud
267

Chapter 14: Managing the Selling Cycle to Improve Cash Flows
281

Chapter 15: Managing the Disbursement Cycle to Improve Cash
Flows 311

Part V: The Part of Tens 331

Chapter 16: Ten Keys to Managing Cash Flows in a Small Business
333

Chapter 17: Ten Tales of Cash-Flow Woes 341

Index 351

About the author

Tage C. Tracy is principal owner of TMK & Associates, an accounting, financial, and strategic business planning consulting firm.

John A. Tracy is Professor of Accounting at the University of Colorado in Boulder and the author of Accounting For Dummies.