Managing farm finances

Press, 28 May 1983, Page 16

Managing farm finances

Farm Business Management, By J. Squire and £ Deiahunty, Longman Paul, 1983. 156 pp, $14.95. The N.Z. Farmer’s guide to Financial Planning. By C. R. Latta. Whitcoulls, 1983. 156 pp, $12.95. Lack of managerial and business skills prevent many farmers from achieving more, say Squire and Deiahunty, and the generalisation seems to have plenty of truth behind it. They then go on to present in readable and concise terms what every farmer should know about the business side of running his operation. Squire and Deiahunty are well qualified to write such a book and appear to have gone to .considerable trouble to make their offering pertinent and easy to digest. Their book covers the role of the farm manager, information flow, planning changes, financial management, taxation, cash flow and planning for retirement.

As if to prove that competition is alive and well in New Zealand publishing, Whitcoulls has offered a book on much the same subject at the same time. Ralph Latta is a chartered accountant and dairy farmer and so again has excellent credentials for presenting a book on this subject of farm finances. His book covers saving, banking, record keepipg, accident compensation, cost accounting, partnerships, sharefarming, taxation, trustees, and a host of related topics. The second book does seem to concentrate more on financial record keeping and planning rather than the broader subject of farm business management. But it is equally as readable and well presented. An enterprising farmer should probably have both, for he will certainly learn from both. Or perhaps he should bring some financial management thinking to bear and buy the cheaper one! — Hugh Stringleman.