About the Author

Richard has been managing the numbers throughout a career which has spanned banking and finance, government, and private industry in several countries and regions – as, variously, manager, director, and entrepreneur.

Richard gained a solid grounding in finance and accounting with NatWest, then Britain’s largest commercial bank, before moving on to HM Treasury (the British finance ministry) where among other things he dealt with public expenditure planning and cash controls on a national scale. Later, as a senior economist and analyst with investment banks (later Shearson Lehman American Express and Chase Manhattan) and a member of the London International Stock Exchange he reviewed countless financial statements and honed his forecasting skills.

Subsequently, as chief economist of an international bank, the results of his financial modelling were in regular demand with various governments and with journals such as Institutional Investor. He was also secretary for the bank’s assets and liabilities committee, analyzing the numbers with the objective of improving performance.

Indeed, throughout his career as a manager at all levels he has produced and managed hundreds of project plans, departmental and enterprise budgets, cash flow statements, income accounts and balance sheets. As executive vice president of a multinational financial software company he developed and directly managed financial reporting and analysis for subsidiaries in several countries, as well as handling aggregation of group accounts. As managing director and non-executive director of many companies in numerous jurisdictions he is continually drawing up, operating to and reviewing corporate financials. He was treasurer for a British preparatory school where he produced financial plans to reverse a decade of losses.

In addition, he developed possibly the world’s first ‘general purpose’ PC spreadsheets application, and he has designed and developed many other computer programs for financial decision-making, risk assessment and reporting (for what it is worth, he is Microsoft Certified).

Richard had a regular column in Accountancy and has written extensively for journals such as The Economist and The Banker.

His other major publications include The Definitive Guide To Business Finance – also published by Financial Times Prentice Hall and a companion for The Definitive Business Plan – and The Economist Guide to Economic Indicators & The Economist Numbers Guide, both published by The Economist, Profile Books & Bloomberg Press.

Richard holds seminars and workshops, and lectures to MBA students and corporate audiences. He is a member of the Institute of Directors, and if he had been clever enough to renew his subscription he would still be a member of British Mensa.