Lessons from the Author of “CFO Techniques”

Or Ten Things Your Publisher Will Forget to Tell You.

Disclaimer: The following conclusions are based on a specific experience of one first-time author with one particular publisher. Marina Guzik does not infer that any other writer of professional books, working on her first or n-th opus for any other, or even the very same, publisher would encounter the same disappointments.

1. There will be no color inside your book. Color printing is expensive and the publisher's intent is to keep the production cost to a bare minimum. So, all your colorful charts and graphs will be in fifty shades of gray (pun is always intended). The good news is that many people read eBooks now and those are full of color.

2. As I found out after the signing of the contract, publishers of professional literature utilize a practice of technical reviewing. Regardless of your credentials, depth of knowledge, experience and professional stature, the publishers will need to hire someone for 2 cent per page to serve as a technical reviewer for your book. This person's job is to verify that you did not make any errors in definitions, calculations, etc.

3. Amazingly, this technical reviewer will get his bio printed prominently in the Front Matter right after your own, the author's. Moreover, the publisher's production department will not have enough common sense to at least make it shorter than the one provided by the humble author, who thought it was unnecessary to list all her accomplishments.

4. Speaking of production. Somehow their compiler squashes words together, cuts out letters in the illustrations, and does other weird things to the final book layout. So, after everything is done, you will still need to reread your book in its entirety, fishing out this stupid shit, before giving your final-draft approval.

5. As you get closer to the finish line, the publisher will randomly move the book's release date back and forth, due to some internal considerations (like printing arrangements), without letting you know. So, don't book that wrap party for yourself (did you think for a second that the publishers will do it?) until the book is actually out.

6. If the publisher includes a Promotion clause in your contract, which states: "We’ll promote the Work, using Our reasonable judgment about the methods and amount of promotion," you should understand that it means they will not spend a penny on promoting your book – there will be no advertising, no sales tables at the professional conferences, and stuff like that. There will be nothing, except their "wonderful PR team's" campaign.

7. There are Publishers and there are publishers. If your book is with Wiley, for example, it will be handled by a stronger public relation team. On the other hand, smaller, less known publishers are staffed with people who didn't make it into the world of the big-time PR influence. They don't have connections and their rolodexes are skimpy. They don't have a pull to call on, let's say, a reviewer at Financial Times and recommend your book. So, their entire "promotional campaign" amounts to posting a public release on PRWeb.com and, allegedly, mass-emailing it to their undisclosed distribution list.

8. That single promotional tool, the public release, will be written in a wooden, cumbersome language. Moreover, it will misrepresent some crucial aspects of your book. And when you rewrite it yourself to make it snappier and smarter, they will completely ignore your version and post their own anyway. They will add insult to injury by misspelling your name under your quote.

9. If you dare to express your frustration with all this bullshit on the pages of your blog, which is specifically designed as a venting outlet, they will lash out at you and then shut you out: they will not even list your book among their featured titles.

10. Last, but not least, the various eBook versions (Nook, Kindle, ePub, PDF, MOBI) will not be protected by any resellers. They will be ripped off every legitimate site, including that of your publishers', and offered for free on the Internet. Thus, your copyrights will be brutally infringed and your meager ability to earn any royalty off of your own work will be drastically diminished. The publishers will not do anything about it. They will not even reply to your emails on the subject.

You have to appreciate, though, what they do tell you in advance:

1. Even though there are 6 million companies with less than 100 employees in this country and you wrote a book that can help them to survive, you can consider yourself lucky if a few thousand copies will be sold in several years. How many small-business owners and their downtrodden senior financial managers have you seen improving their organizations by the book?

2. Hence, there is no fame or fortune in writing professional books;

3. It's not the book itself, but what you do with it.

Knowing this keeps you real. If you are not going to promote the book at your own expense, or utilize it to enhance your professional exposure, accept the fact that seeing it published simply massages your ego. Nothing more.

Ten Reasons Why “CFO Techniques” Is a Must-Read for Small-Business CFOs

Reason #1.

"CFO Techniques" was NOT written from an academic perspective, such as of a typical university professor with a consulting-for-large-business on the side.

On the contrary, it WAS WRITTEN by your fellow CFO, who earned her professional stripes in the small-business trenches. During more than 20 years of this hands-on experience, with the last 18 in CFO and Controller positions, she was fortunate to gain exposure to all facets of financial management and organizational administration. Just like the most of you, she knows only too well what it means to wear many hats at the same time.

Reason #2.

Yet, the author did not loose a constructive touch of a theoretician. In writing the book, she employed her:

in-depth knowledge of the fundamental principles that govern all areas of corporate accounting and finance,
methodical approach to all tasks that compile ever-expanding scope of a CFO's responsibilities,
and ability to dissect the cause and effect relationships of various concepts.

The result is the crystallization of the vast experience into a streamlined functional system, easily adaptable to various types of businesses and industries.

Reason #3.

"CFO Techniques" doesn't try to rehash official regulations, statistical information, bits of hot technology news, results of narrow studies, and such. The book's mission is to spotlight the most important areas of a CFO's or a controller's functionality:

Reason #4.

These professional cornerstones are broken down into crucial components described in bite-size, easily digestible chapters written in a fun and lithe language. The book presents the most complex financial and accounting concepts in comprehensive forms, which can serve as introductory aids for those who just attained their first controllership appointment and as concise refreshers for seasoned professionals.

Reason #5.

It is an unfortunate truth that millions of small businesses struggle (and frequently fail) to survive not because they are neglected by owners and managers, but because these hard-working people simply have no clue what exactly is wrong with their companies, where are the weakest points, which areas require immediate improvements. Smaller enterprises suffer the most from the lack, even complete absence, of business intelligence and performance analytics. "CFO Techniques" is a part of the author's personal crusade to help small and mid-size businesses by providing them with survival tools (analytical, budgetary, procedural, etc.) that don't require expensive and complicated software.

Figure 25-1

Reason #6.

One of the most unique and valuable devices offered within the book is the proprietary chart

INCOTERMS FOR ACCOUNTANTS.

Originally developed by Eclectic & Dynamic Controllership Consulting (E&D CC) specifically for businesses involved in buying and selling goods, it expands the definitions of standard Incoterms to include such accounting notions as title transfer rules and description of applicable source documents, thus accommodating needs of proper revenue, COGS, and inventory recognition.

Reason #7.

One of the main underlying themes of the book is the necessity for small-business CFO's and controllers to raise themselves above the bean-counting stereotype and become critical thinkers, indispensable members of the executive management team. "CFO Techniques" emphasizes this pressing demand throughout every section and accentuates the tasks that may facilitate such transformation.

Reason #8.

While shedding new light on the day-to-day routines and spinning conventional accounting and finance tasks as crucial and indispensable cogs in the business machine, the author's functional system gives equal rights to new categories of CFOs responsibilities, such as company-wide Information Technology Management, Risk Control, and Strategic Planning.

Reason #9.

The book takes a holistic approach to multi-faceted positions of CFOs and controllers and supplements specific structural guidelines and practical functional advices with discussions of more general topics applicable to any senior professional operating in private-business environment. Among others, it includes observations and suggestions on how to deal with people on different level of corporate hierarchy and what changes to expect in your future, even if at the moment you feel 100% secure.

Reason #10.

Even if you don't learn anything new, or if you'll find the book not applicable to your specific professional niche, at the very least you can entertain yourself with the multitude of eclectic cultural references and business insights from the author's personal experience woven through the book's text.

Ten Reasons Why “CFO Techniques” Is a Must-Read for Entrepreneurs

Reason #1.

You are a part of a proud cohort of just a few millions of people who summoned their courage and said, "I will not work for the Man anymore! I will be my own boss!"

While your company is growing, it will need to keep its overhead lean. Meanwhile, you can use "CFO Techniques" as a surrogate for a seasoned executive that will provide you with clear guidelines for financial and administrative management.

Reason #2.

Don't let the title fool you. "CFO Techniques" is not a bean-counting manual. It's written with a view to achieving commercial success and places business considerations ahead of everything else.

Reason #3.

It will arm you with a flexible framework for structuring your business in a logical and sensible way.

Reason #4.

"CFO Techniques" is not an academic textbook either. It manages to shed new light on various aspects of finance and business in a fun and easy language. The book is organized into a bite-sized chapters sprinkled with familiar cultural references and illustrations from the author's professional life.

Reason #5.

Yet, it's packed with practical advice,

instructive suggestions, step-by-step guidelines,

checklists,

and visual examples.

Reason #6.

"CFO Techniques" will provide you with a comprehensive breakdown on acquisition of capital resources necessary to sustain and grow your business.

Reason #7.

An entire section of the book is devoted to assessment, reduction, and transfer of the internal and external risks your company may encounter in a normal course of business and in extraordinary circumstances.

Reason #8.

"CFO Techniques" will show you that one of the most critical determinants of whether your company will fail or prosper is the active attention to its performance. The book rejects the rigidity of the uniform approach to business intelligence and underscores the importance of selecting specific indicators that will have the most significant impact on your decision-making process.

Reason #9.

Anticipating your furture needs, the book describes the fundamental steps of strategic planning and basic techniques for explorting opportunities as well as diminishing external threats.

Reason #10.

And when you are looking to hire a CFO, a valuable member of your executive team, the book may serve you as a benchmark in evaluating the candidates' breadth of expertise and depth of knowledge.

“CFO Techniques” Technical Reviewer’s Comment for Small Business CFOs

LinkedIn Groups

Group: Small Business CFOs
Discussion: How important is to have a Policy & Procedure for a small business?

"Marina Guzik references her recently published "CFO Techniques" book, and it truly is a terrific reference guide for savvy CFO's, containing valuable information about best practice considerations on a number of critical topics. She has done an outstanding job of writing an easy-to-read one-stop source of valuable tips on identifying and solidifying core business functions, and it was my pleasure to assist with its technical review. A must-read for those wishing to learn more about making their business the strongest it can financially be!"
Posted by Randy KRUG

Strategic Planning vs. Crisis Management

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II” (written by Steve Kloves, based on a novel by J.K. Rowling’s):

HARRY POTTER

We have to go there, now.

HERMIONE GRANGER

What? We can’t do that! We’ve got to plan! We’ve got to figure out —

HARRY POTTER

Hermione! When have any of our plans ever worked? We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose!

And that, my dear readers, in a nutshell, is the principal difference between the two action-plan extremists.

In the red corner, equipped by multipage projections with color graphs and tables, are those who believe that strategic planning is the only way of life and one must ponder and weigh every situational possibility before taking any step forward (or backward). In the blue corner, wearing their firefighting suits with confidence and valor, are those who are convinced that when the shit hits the fan they will be able to immediately assess the entire spectrum of life-threatening circumstances and successfully handle the crisis.

Any kind of extremism is bad, kids, m’kay? In religion, politics, personal views, and business management. Different situations require different approaches. Only a balanced combination of executive instruments, including long- and short-term plans as well as emergency-response methodology, can guarantee an enterprise’s ability to efficiently evolve and weather any dangers that constantly arise in the volatile commercial environment.

In my book, “CFO Techniques”, I have devoted an entire section (Part VIII) to strategies and planning as crucial components of CFOs’ and controllers’ functionality – the important responsibilities that change financial managers from bean-counters to CEOs’ executive partners. Participating in analysis of opportunities and construction of well-devised action scenarios offers us a possibility to affect companies in the most significant way. Remember, that those executives who let companies run their course without looking into the future and carefully plotting their steps for further development, leave the businesses vulnerable in the face of the fast-advancing competition.

On the other hand, crisis management efforts applied in situations that present themselves without any warning are of extreme importance as well, particularly in small and midsize businesses, which are highly susceptible to the slightest deviations in market, financial, economic, and political environment. Moreover, these companies frequently have less than sufficient reserves to tide them over tough times. Implementation of a disaster-rescue mission requires high level of composure and rationalization. Those who’ve read my “About” note know that I consider my “fire-fighting” skills to be the most valuable to my employers and clients.

It is a mistake to think, though, that even a very experienced CFO can wing it without contemplating some sort of advance “what-if” scenarios. In fact, a crisis management policy is just another form of a strategic plan. On top of that, proper preparation for emergencies requires broader expertise and deeper knowledge of various commercial, marketing, technological, financial, legal, and organizational matters.

The truth is that a successful executive must be capable of devising a carefully-weighed and calculated strategic development plan with all visual bells and whistles her digital arsenal can afford, but in her special folder she always keeps a set of comprehensive tactical procedures for effective extinguishment of fires and post-disaster survival.

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