Financial Management for Farmers and Rural Managers

Martyn Warren (Author)

9780632048717, Wiley

Paperback / softback, published 4 December 1997

308 pages
24.6 x 17.3 x 1.7 cm, 0.482 kg

This book is a practical guide to all aspects of financial management in the smaller business. Although the prime focus is on owners and managers of farm businesses and farm diversifications, it is equally valuable for other types of rural business and organisation. It has proved popular on degree and diploma courses in Rural Resource Management, Countryside Management and Rural Estate Management, as well as those concerned with Agriculture. In this fourth edition, increased emphasis has been given to general accounting principles and techniques, especially those of management accounting, cost-volume-profit and break-even analysis and pricing. While maintaining and strengthening the farm business focus, the new edition also better accommodates the needs of non-agricultural enterprises, including service and manufacturing businesses and non-profit organisations such as Wildlife Trusts.

Part 1 Basic Issues: Why bother?
In the beginning...
Building a framework
Cash Flow, Profit and Capital: Cash flow
Net Profit
Profit statements
Capital
Capital Statements
Depreciation
Interpretation of Financial Accounts: Adjusting for realism
Interpreting the profit and loss account
Interpreting the balance sheet
Management Accounts: Management versus financial accounts
Gross margin accounts
Full cost accounts
Allowing for cost behaviour
Pricing
Variations from the Norm: Farm management accounting
Partnerships and companies
Voluntary/non-profit organizations
Part 2: Basic Budgeting: A profit budget: Introduction
Compiling a profit budget
Home Farm profit budget
A Cash Flow Budget for the Whole Farm: Basic principles
Value Added Tax and overdraft interest
Cash flow budgets in practice
Reconciling cash flow and profit
A Budgeted Balance Sheet: Compiling the budget
A budgeted balance sheet for Home Farm
Budgeting for Incremental Change: Relevant costs and benefits
Partial budgets
Part 3 Financial History: Recording Cash Flow: Designing a cash recording system
The cash analysis system
Petty cash
Statutory records
Recording Profit and Capital: Preparing a profit and loss account
Valuing stocks
Recording capital
The 'Back-up' Records: Introduction
Transaction records
Physical records
Stock control
Background records
Organizing paperwork
Post-script
Part 4: Controlling the Business: Monitoring Cash Flow: Why monitor cash flow?
Comparison of actual and budgeted results
Interpreting the results
Annual cash flow monitoring
Monitoring Profit and Capital: The importance of monitoring profit
Comparison with previous years
Inter-farm comparisons (1): conventional profit and loss account
inter-farm comparisons (2): profit and loss accounts in enterprise account form
Budgetary comparisons
Variance analysis
profit monitoring for Home Farm
Monitoring capital
Part 5: More on Planning and Control: The Planning Process - A Wider View: Tactics and strategy
The mission
Setting aims and objectives
Assessing 'internal' characteristics and external environment
Generating alternative plans
Selecting the optimal plan
Implementing and monitoring the selected plan
Involving other members of the organization
Planning for Livestock Enterprises: Introduction
Feeding livestock
Allocation of forage costs
Estimating potential production
Replacement of breeding livestock
Livestock with long production cycles
Labour and Machinery Planning in Farming: Introduction
Estimating level of use
Estimating labour and machinery costs
Investigating alternatives
Capital Planning: Introdiction
Sources of capital
Estimating the cost of capital
Comparing alternative uses of capital (1): simple measures
Comparing alternative uses of capital (2): discounted cash flow techniques
Allowing for Risk and Uncertainty: Introduction
Allowing for risk and uncertainty in planning
Risk and investment appraisal
Allowing for Inflation: Introduction
Inflation and financial accounts
Inflation and management accounts
Inflation and planning
Inflation and investment appraisal
Appendix A. Personal Computers in Management: A.1 Introduction
A.2 Computers and farming
A.3 General business applications

Subject Areas: Agriculture & farming [TV]