Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface : what is financial intelligence? -- The art of finance (and why it matters to IT) -- You can't always trust the numbers -- Spotting assumptions, estimates, and biases -- Why increase your financial intelligence? -- Toolbox : getting what you want; the players and what they do -- The (many) peculiarities of the income statement -- Profit is an estimate -- Cracking the code of the income statement -- Revenue : the issue is recognition -- Costs and expenses : no hard-and-fast rules -- The many forms of profit -- Toolbox : variance; percent calculations; line of sight -- The balance sheet reveals the most -- Understanding balance sheet basics -- Assets : more estimates and assumptions (except for cash) -- On the other side : liabilities and equity -- Why the balance sheet balances -- The income statement affects the balance sheet -- Toolbox : employees as assets; expenses vs.capital expenditures -- Cash is king -- Cash is a reality check -- Profit ? cash (and you need both) -- The language of cash flow -- How cash connects with everything else -- Why cash matters -- Toolbox: free cash flow -- Ratios: learning what the numbers are really telling you -- The power of ratios -- Profitability ratios: the higher the better (mostly) -- Leverage ratios: the balancing act -- Liquidity ratios: can we pay our bills? -- Efficiency ratios: making the most of your assets -- Toolbox: ratios for the business; ratios for it; leading vs. lagging indicators; percent-of-sales analysis; ratio relationships -- How to calculate (and really understand) return on investment -- The building blocks of roi -- Figuring roi: the nitty-gritty -- Toolbox: the roi of an it project -- Applied financial intelligence: working capital management -- The magic of managing the balance sheet -- Your balance sheet levers -- Homing in on cash conversion -- Toolbox: understanding accounts- receivable aging -- Creating a financially intelligent it department (and organization) -- Financial literacy and corporate performance -- Financial literacy strategies -- Appendix: putting it into practice -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index -- About the authors.