'Show Me! QuickBooks'
The phrase "I know what I'm doing" has probably preceded more military debacles, chainsaw accidents and irretrievable computer disasters than any other. While there will be plenty more defeated armies and one-handed lumberjacks, Show Me! QuickBooks 2005 can help the overproud and advice-averse use the popular low-end accounting software safely, without the shame of admitting ignorance. Written by frequent Accounting Today contributor Gail Perry, the book is a comprehensive, easy-to-use guide, with illustrated, step-by-step explanations that can serve as a reference for the knowledgeable and an excellent training tool for newbies.
Price: $21.99.
Que Publishing
www.quepublishing.com
(800) 382-3419
Better balance
By now, most of you will have heard of the "Balanced Scorecard" approach to performance measurement; many of you may even be using it. But those who are, claims author and expert Paul Niven, may not be getting the most from it.
His Balanced Scorecard Diagnostics: Maintaining Maximum Performance was written to help companies reach the full potential of the system, with tools to help you analyze key performance indicators and implement corrective changes. With lots of real-world case studies, the book is full of useful tips and tools for more efficiently and effectively implementing, monitoring and improving your performance management initiatives.
Think of it as a Balanced Scorecard system for your Balanced Scorecard system.
Price: $45.
John Wiley & Sons
www.wiley.com
(800) 225-5945
Building loyalty
If you want loyalty, buy a dog. If you're allergic to dogs, read The Loyalty Advantage. It's not as companionable as a pup, but it will show you how to cultivate loyalty from your employees, which it claims is the key to developing loyal customers - the real goal for companies in a time when consumers and clients are more fickle and changeable than ever.
According to author Dianne Michonski Durkin, who is also president of consulting firm The Loyalty Factor, employees often aren't loyal because they don't feel that their company is loyal to them, and she offers ways to get past that hurdle, and then offers a five-step "Loyalty Advantage" process that can put your company on the path to enhanced employee, customer and brand loyalty.
Let's see your dog do that.
Price: $24.95.
Amacom Books
www.amacombooks.org
(800) 714-6395
Nonprofits 101
Will no one stop Nolo? Every week, it seems, we here at New Products get a new package of books aimed at rendering unnecessary the sort of high-quality and remunerative advice that professionals dispense to clients, by putting the same kind of advice right into said clients' hot little hands.
The most recent examples are two books on the world of not-for-profit entitites: Starting & Building a Nonprofit, which offers tons of practical advice and step-by-step instructions on the title subject - including things like choosing a federal tax-exempt status that an accountant might advise on - and Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits, which gets into the best ways to keep the money flowing in, including using the Web and developing grass roots strategies.
Be warned, people: The folks at Nolo aren't just trying to eat your lunch - they're trying to close down the buffet entirely!
Price: Starting and Building a Nonprofit - $29.99. Effective Fundraising - $24.99.
Nolo
www.nolo.com
(800) 728-3555
Governance for dummies
Let's face it: Most investors are clueless when it comes to corporate governance. And they've probably only gotten worse since the scandals of 2001 and 2002, as complicated new rules and requirements have been piled on. But while there has been plenty of advice for management on governance issues, little has been done to educate investors on what they can expect and what they should look for. That makes The Corporate Governance of Listed Companies: A Manual for Investors, a guide to assessing governance policies written specifically for analysts and investors, particularly welcome.
Produced by the CFA Centre for Financial Market Integrity, an arm of the CFA Institute, the Manual describes the board and management practices that investors should look for to determine if a company is well-governed. It shows them where to get information on board elections, executive compensation, audit committee composition and shareholder rights, among other things, all of which should help them invest more wisely - or at least know who to blame when things go wrong.
Price: Free to download.
CFA Centre for Financial Market Integrity
www.cfainstitute.org
(800) 247-8132
Send your product news to Daniel Hood at
