Each portion of a financial statement is described in this book. it is more of a reference to go back to rather than a book to read through. It is very detailed.

The book's content doesn't give any valuable information at all. What's inside can be found on most other financial and investment books. Furthermore, the cost is way way too high. I feel ripped off!

My worst buy at the moment!!

What this book is:

The 1936 edition of "The Interpretation of Financial Statements" by Benjamin Graham, the father of the modern academic discipline of financial analysis. In brief chapters with examples, Graham explains different entries you might find on a corporation's public balance sheet, how those assets and liabilities (debits and credits) add up, and what the meaning is with regard to that corporation's financial health. There are occasional glimpses of average figures by industry, but given that they were compiled in 1935, they are more interesting as a glimpse into the past - some things have changed, much more has remained the same.

What this book is not:

1. It's not a primer on double-entry accounting. If you really don't know anything about double-entry bookkeeping, you'll find the book rough going, as basic familiarity is assumed.

2. It's not an editorial. There's remarkably little opinion given about how to value companies based on their balance sheet entries. That task is performed in the author's mammoth magnum opus, Security Analysis (I prefer the 1940 edition). This book does function admirably as a tableside glossary to that work.

3. It won't tell you how to get rich by investing. Readers looking for get-rich-quick guides should look elsewhere.

4. GAAP- or SOAP-compliant. Both Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and Sarbanes-Oxley postdated the publication of this book by many years.

I enjoyed this book and found it a pleasant, intelligent and necessary introduction to Graham's Security Analysis. If you have interest in learning about the history of financial analysis, you will probably find this book of interest as well.

Graham is the money lord whose writings formed the basis of Warren BUffett's investing tenets. That should be enough of a basis for those pondering buying this book. This guy taught Buffett! On the other hand, the book is a little tedious, and certainly not for the novice investor. I'd say you should be an intermediate level investor, at least, beforing diving into this creaky book. But if you're patient and willing to stay with it, there are certainly some real pearls of investing wisdom between its pages.

For those desiring a more user friendly investing tome try The Millionaire Mind by Standley, the sequel to The Millionaire Next Door. The Millionaire Mind

It was a basic explanation of the FS suitable for non-accountants. The texts are brief and concise but very informative.

Recommended to lay persons. A classic BG material!

After skimming over the pages of Graham's Security Analysis, I decided to buy this smaller book, which was published few years later. I also noticed a recommendation by Joel Greenblatt in his book "You can be a Stock Market Genius".
People with finance/accounting background may not find this book useful. The book focuses more on items mentioned in the balance sheet and income statement. Cash flow statements weren't published during Graham's time. Later on the book gives important guidelines on some financial ratios. It also talks about calculating tangible book value of any company. Although it may not be useful to value technology/internet and asset-light companies, it would still help an investor calculate the real value of a company.
Good value for your money. This concise book is a must read for all amateur investors!

For the most part I found Graham's book to be very useful. It is a quick and informative read with some insights on how to make heads or tails of what you are looking at with an annual or quarterly report. Although there was some disappointment with the Income Statement explanation (which, honestly isn't terribly hard to understand), as well as his focus on railroad and utility companies (with some focus on bonds and preferred stocks, which I have no interest in), I found this to be very helpful.

On a whole, this book is excellent for the beginning investor. It is a little out of date, but the core information, as well as reading the words of Graham himself, is worth the read. Graham also applies everything he wrote about to a financial statement, showing exactly what to do, which is an invaluable piece of instruction. Definitely recommend, even if it is for the sample balance sheet analysis alone.

This short book is a quick and straightforward review of balance sheet and income statement line items. The cash flow statement is not directly addressed. Each chapter is about two to three pages.

Price to cash flow

This book was written at a time when railroads were the major industry in the US! Intangibles and more sophisticated accounting measures simply did not exist. Get a book written from at least the 1990's onward.

Why they republished this edition when they might have republished the Second or Third Revised Edition (by Graham and Charles McGolrick, published in 1964 and 1975, respectively) beats me. The latter two editions are unquestionably better,as both are more current, and contain more useful tips regarding contextual interpretation.

It's true that the primary value of Graham's text is its framework, which provides concision in summarizing a potentially confusing topic. This framework persists through all four editions. Also, it's true that all four editions are pretty dated (there is no discussion of cash flow statement interpretation in any edition obviously, for example, although Graham alludes to the significance of cashflow interpretation somewhat disparagingly in the latter editions).

But all of Graham's guidelines for balance sheet analysis are still current in the latter two editions, as are his brief guidelines for bond analysis and earnings power. The first edition seems less useful in these respects.

One might assume that there is value in going back to the first edition of this small volume as one might go back to the first edition of Security Analysis. There are indeed nuggets in the first edition of Security Analysis which have been mysteriously removed from later editions. But that isn't true with The Interpretation of Financial Statements. If you can get your hands on a copy of the 1964 or 1975 edition of this book, you will likely find either more useful than this original edition.

For the novice or the professional - this short, concise book is worth it's price.

Ben Graham was the author of many books and the voice of sound advice, his principles are not dated even today.

Although corporate 10Q's have become more complex due to a lot of the offbalance sheet investments they do, e.g. Enron. If a company is honest and has value this book will help you find it. So the way I approach my investing I have to assume all companies are honest unless proven otherwise.

So much time is taken to explain diversification by many other books, but none gives you the practical expertise to make an informed decision. This book does. It is a handy reference that sits on my desk. I use it to review annual reports and to interpret online SEC filings just to make sure the companies I have invested in are actually healthy.

This book is small, but what I have found over the years is that smaller books are better. They leave out the fluff and all you get are the meat and potatoes of what you need to know.

If you take your time to understand the information presented and use it, you'll be teaching your broker a thing or two at the end of the day.

Like gold, this small book provides a very high value. With interest in Graham and value investing growing, this small book provides a compact reference to the various parts of a balance sheet and income statement you will become very familiar with as you read his other books.

Fantastic reference on its own. .

I am trying to locate the 2nd edition of the book "The Interpretation of Financial Statements" 1964. I searched for it on the site, but only found the first version.

Why they republished this edition when they might have republished the Second Revised Edition (by Graham and Charles McGolrick, originally published in 1964) beats me. The latter is unquestionably better,as it is more current, and contains more tips. Yet even the 1964 edition is pretty dated (there is no discussion of cash flow statement interpretation, for example, although Graham alludes to cashflow somewhat disparagingly in this later edition). One might argue that there is value in going back to the 1st edition of this small volume as one might go back to the 1st edition of Security Analysis. There are indeed nuggets in the 1st edition of Security Analysis which have been mysteriously removed from later editions. But that isn't true with The Interpretation of Financial Statements. If you can find a copy of the 1964 edition of this book, you will likely find it more useful than the original.