Finance On A Beermat by Mike Southon, Chris West, Stephen King and Jeff Macklin
Book Review - 4 Stars
The Beermat series of books are a simple and clear explanation of how to build and grow a successful entrepreneurial business.
Finance On A Beermat continues with the traditional and regular authors Mike Southon and Chris West receive help from Stephen King and Jeff Macklin, two of the main people behind FDUK, the franchise for part time finance directors which has been taken over by The FD Centre.
It looks at the idea of finance cornerstones and provides an explanation of finance and accounting.
Finding Your Cornerstones
At the centre of the beermat idea is that the entrepreneur needs to put the right support team in place quickly - a mentor and four functional cornerstones including a "Finance Cornerstone".
The book describes a cornerstone as "an expert on an aspect of business who has real leadership input into the venture."
So the finance cornerstone is not a part time bookkeeper who will help you process transactions but a finance expert who will keep you and your team focused on generating profit and cashflow.
The finance cornerstone should even own part of the business to make sure that commitment is total and his opinions are respected and carefully listened to by the team. Otherwise it is easy to dismiss concerns over spending as the typical "accountant No mentality".
Contents Of "Finance On A Beermat"
The chapter headings are:
- A finance cornerstone
- Accounting 101: the very basics
- The seedling business
- Tax and the law - be careful with this chapter since compliance issues can change very quickly.
- Accounting 102: basic management information
- The sapling business: the idea really becomes a business
- The young tree business: managing profitable growth
- Exit
I like the way that "Finance On A Beermat" covers training of the key finance concepts and also puts the ideas into the context of the life of the business from start-up through success and to eventual sale.
I have provided my own explanations for basic finance on my business coaching blog.
I also very much believe in the idea of Finance Cornerstones, from the start if the intention is to build a big business in true entrepreneurial tradition or from around the 15 to 20 employee mark if the business grows gradually. In the UK the idea is usually called a part time finance director.
It is a role I have done myself and even though I have stopped, I help a number of part time finance directors to market themselves.
Review Rating For Finance On A Beermat
This book is well worth reading if you are struggling to get your head around the finance terms and concepts and you don't understand much of what your accountant says to you.
I rate the book at the 4 stars level - that is a buy and read recommendation.
I also recommend to the part time finance directors to read Finance On A Beermat and the finance chapter of The E Myth Mastery by Michael Gerber to help to appreciate the problems small business owners have with accounts and finance...and how it can be a scary subject.
Buying Finance On A Beermat
The Beermat books are a UK phenomenon so unusually there are more review ratings at Amazon.co.uk than Amazon.com (affiliate links).
You will see that this is "finance light" and it is NOT one of those books that you can't face to even start looking through, let alone reading from cover to cover.
In fact, I know from finance courses I've run, entrepreneurs, small business owners, directors and managers are fascinated by finance once they conquer their initial reluctance and they like the way that things start to make sense.
Other Finance Books
If this still sounds too much, you can get finance dressed up in as romantic fiction - I kid you not - see The Bottom Line by Alan Warner.
Have You Read "Finance On A Beermat"?
If you have read this book, I'd like to hear what you think of it.
Has it helped you to make sense of finance?
Have you taken the advice to find a finance cornerstone?
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