Harvard Business Review

MARCH 31, 2017

If you’re not a numbers person, finance is daunting. But having a grasp of terms like EBITDA and net present value are important no matter where you sit on the org chart. Stop avoiding finance because you’re afraid of numbers. Think of it this way, “Finance is the way businesses keep score.

Finance 8

Finance Skills EBITDA Net Present Value 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 18, 2016

There are a variety of ways to calculate a return on investment (ROI) — net present value , internal rate of return , breakeven — but the simplest is payback period. A Refresher on Net Present Value. Finance & Accounting Article. Further Reading.

Payback Period 8

Payback Period Net Present Value ROI Rate of Return 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

This lack of an analytical approach has traditionally formed a barrier between marketing and finance. Only when they began to really analyze their marketing costs did the company realize that it was spending three times the industry benchmark on coupons and 50 percent more on research. Ask for the CFO’s help.

CFO 8

CFO Short-term Long-term Benchmarking 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 18, 2015

The private equity industry has grown markedly in the last 20 years and we know more than we used to about its effects on the economy. In particular, we are interested in how many of their responses correlate with what academic finance knows and what it teaches. Do PE investors do what the academy says are “best practices?”

CAPM 8

CAPM Discounted Cash Flow Company Rate of Return 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 10, 2011

To make sure they're comparing apples to apples, they discount those future cash flows to arrive at their net present value. That's the finding of a new survey on how financial professionals determine their cost of capital, presented in a separate post on HBR.org today. Schulze, and Michael H. McNulty et al.

CAPM 14

CAPM Cost Discounted Cash Flow Cost of Capital 14

Harvard Business Review

MAY 1, 2017

Today, the average cost of equity capital sits at close to half that: just 8% for the roughly 1600 companies comprising the Value Line Index. So, in real terms, debt financing is essentially free. In these circumstances, strategies that generate faster growth create more value for most companies than those that improve profit margins.

ROE 13

ROE Long-term GDP Six Sigma 13