Once Upon a Balance Sheet wins International Impact Book Award

By AI, Created 5:29 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – James C Foo Leong’s finance book Once Upon a Balance Sheet has won in the Business: Management Accounting category at the International Impact Book Awards. The recognition underscores demand for simpler finance education that helps non-finance professionals read statements and make better business decisions.

Why it matters: - The award puts a spotlight on finance education that is easier for non-finance professionals to use. - Once Upon a Balance Sheet is designed to help leaders, managers, entrepreneurs and other professionals understand what financial statements say about a business. - The recognition suggests growing interest in story-based tools that make accounting and financial reporting less intimidating.

What happened: - Once Upon a Balance Sheet was named a winner in the Business: Management Accounting category at the International Impact Book Awards. - James C Foo Leong, a Singapore-based finance educator, keynote speaker, creator of the Financial Storyverse® and Adjunct Associate Professor, wrote the book. - The book launched on 7 November 2025 and later reached Amazon Bestseller status. - The book’s award recognition was announced in Singapore on May 13, 2026.

The details: - Once Upon a Balance Sheet uses storytelling, visual metaphors and practical business examples to explain financial statements. - The book frames financial information as a story about decisions, actions and results inside a business. - Leong said the book was written for people who have often felt excluded from finance conversations. - Leong also said financial statements are not just technical reports, but stories that become clearer when people learn how to read them. - The book is part of Leong’s broader Financial Storyverse®, an educational universe built to make finance more engaging, memorable and easier to follow. - Count Jargon, one of the signature characters in the Financial Storyverse®, is presented as a guide that helps readers turn jargon into understanding. - The book is aimed at readers who want finance to feel clearer, more practical and easier to follow.

Between the lines: - The award reflects a broader push to make management accounting less dependent on spreadsheets and specialist language. - Leong’s approach positions financial literacy as a leadership skill, not just a finance function. - The book’s format points to a market for business education that connects numbers to everyday decisions instead of treating finance as abstract reporting. - Leong said finance should not belong only to finance professionals, and that every leader makes decisions that appear in the numbers.

What’s next: - The International Impact Book Awards recognition is likely to support continued visibility for the book as it reaches more business readers. - Leong’s Financial Storyverse® appears set to remain the platform for his finance storytelling approach. - The book will continue to be used as a practical guide for readers who want a clearer way to understand financial statements.