James C Foo Leong - The Financial Storyteller

I’m honoured to share that Once Upon a Balance Sheet has been named a Winner at the International Impact Book Awards in the Business category, under Management Accounting.

This book began with a simple belief: financial statements are stories about a business told in numbers.

Through the Financial Storyverse®, characters like Count Jargon, Miss Numbers, the STEPH Model, Huat, and Master C FOO help make finance clearer, more visual, and more human for readers who want to understand the numbers with confidence.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the book and believed that finance can be taught differently.

Honoured to be invited by Stuart Tan onto his popular podcast, The Pathways to Mastery, to talk about the untold journey behind Once Upon a Balance Sheet.

We explored why this finance book was written through a storytelling lens — not just to simplify finance, but to make it clearer. We spoke about how my life experiences and childhood shaped the way I see numbers, and what really happened when my publisher went bankrupt midway through the process.

One idea ran through the entire conversation: every number tells a story.

Behind every number is a choice, a behaviour, and a consequence.

That applies to finance.
And it applies directly to leadership.

When leaders understand the story behind the numbers, they make better decisions. They set clearer priorities. They lead with confidence rather than hesitation. Financial clarity doesn’t just improve performance — it strengthens leadership.

The recording will be released soon. If this perspective on finance, clarity, and leadership resonates with you, keep an eye out.

If you are a leader reflecting on this, I would be glad to share our learning approach.

If you are seeking financial clarity with ease, Once Upon a Balance Sheet is conveniently available on Amazon and at Kinokuniya.

As the year comes to a close, I’ve been looking back—not just at what happened, but at how it unfolded.

Five years ago, I started writing Once Upon a Balance Sheet. I thought the book would be printed by the end of 2024. The plan felt reasonable. The timeline felt manageable.

That wasn’t how it turned out.

In January 2025, I found out that my publisher had gone bankrupt. What I was left with was a single PDF. No source files. No editable manuscript. No clear path forward. For a while, it genuinely felt like the book might never exist in the form it was meant to.

That was a hard moment.

What kept me going was a clear obligation to see it through.

Readers had been writing in. Subscribers on my list were asking when the book would be ready. People had been waiting for it. I also had senior leaders, respected academics, CEOs, legal professionals, and board-level figures—including chairpersons and independent directors—who had lent their names and reputation to the book through testimonials. These are individuals entrusted with leadership, governance, and judgment at the highest levels. Their belief in the work created a level of accountability I could not step away from.

So I kept going.

Page by page. Line by line. Word by word. My wife stepped in as my editor, and together we took on roles we never expected to—publisher, proofreader, project manager, and everything in between. It was painstaking work. Often tiring. Sometimes overwhelming. But it was the only way forward.

On 7 November 2025, Once Upon a Balance Sheet was released globally on Amazon.

What followed took me by surprise.

People reached out to help with publicity and social media announcements. Many asked where they could buy the book and offered to purchase copies immediately. Others invited me onto podcasts and conversations, helping the ideas in the book reach audiences far beyond what I could have done alone. Many also shared it onward within their organisations and networks, allowing the book to travel organically.

Because of that collective support, Once Upon a Balance Sheet became an Amazon #1 Hot New Release and an Amazon Best Seller.

I’m grateful for the outcome, but even more so for the people who helped carry the book there.

My wife and I also hosted Balance Sheet Night, not knowing what to expect.

What we experienced was encouragement, generosity, and people showing up simply to be there. Even now, the journey continues. People I have never met have recommended the book on their own initiative, from as far away as Pakistan. That still means a great deal to me.

This year also marked the introduction of Count Jargon®, the world’s first finance plushie—a character from the book, conceived as part of my work as a Singaporean author and educator.

He exists to turn jargon into joy and to remind people that finance doesn’t need to feel intimidating to become clear. In many ways, Once Upon a Balance Sheet became the gateway to what I call the Financial Storyverse®—probably the happiest place to learn finance.

I also want to acknowledge the clients who work with me and place their confidence in the programmes we run together. Supporting the learning and development of people within organisations carries real responsibility—not just to teach, but to help people achieve meaningful results. I’m grateful for the opportunity to support individuals in building confidence, making better decisions, and progressing more effectively in both their careers and personal lives.

The same applies to my students at the National University of Singapore. Teaching there continually reinforces that learning only matters when it leads to growth, sound judgment, and better choices beyond the classroom.

I’m equally grateful to my family for their patience, understanding, and support through what has been a demanding, challenging, and deeply fulfilling year. Their presence and steadiness made more of this possible than they may realise.

When I reflect on the year, what stands out most is not the milestones themselves, but the people behind them. Those who believed early. Those who waited patiently. Those who stepped in when things fell apart. And those who continue to walk alongside the work, even now.

Thank you for being part of this journey. I wish you and your loved ones a meaningful close to the year, and my very best wishes for 2026—a year filled with clarity, growth, and blessings in both your work and your life.

Christmas is for slowing down.

For good stories, warm lights, and simple moments.

Count Jargon, the world's first financial plush, and friends from the Financial Storyverse® wish you a joyful Christmas and a gentle start to the year ahead.

‘Once Upon a Balance Sheet’ — probably the happiest place to learn finance.

A huge thank you to all our friends, clients, and readers out there for your continued support.

Once Upon a Balance Sheet is now on the Top 3 Amazon Best Seller list, and Top Hot New Release in Management Accounting !!

Grateful for the response and what followed.

When Once Upon a Balance Sheet was released on 7 November, it reached Amazon’s #1 Hot New Release in Management Accounting on launch day.

I was deeply thankful for the warm response and reception — a real show of support when the book finally arrived after years of conversations, sharing, and waiting.

What I didn’t expect was what followed.

Five weeks on, the book is still appearing at #1 Hot New Release, and is now also within the Top 5 Amazon Best Sellers in the same category — all without paid marketing.

It’s not just the rankings themselves that give me pause.

It’s seeing the book placed among established international bestselling authors — and titles I’ve read and returned to over the years.

Some of those include Die With Zero, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, and Jim Collins’ Good to Great. Books that have shaped how many of us think about money, markets, and leadership over time.

To see Once Upon a Balance Sheet appearing alongside them is something I’m truly thankful for.

As we move into the Christmas season, it also feels like a good time to pause and reflect.

If you’re thinking about a meaningful gift — for a colleague, a team member, or even yourself — Once Upon a Balance Sheet was written as exactly that: a gift of learning, clarity, and confidence that lasts beyond the season.

You don’t need to be a finance person to follow the story.

Once Upon a Balance Sheet — your gateway to the Financial Storyverse®, probably the happiest place to learn finance.

Balance Sheet Night

I’m still taking in everything from this evening.

People showed up in force, and the room was filled. We had a full house, plenty of interaction, lots of laughter, and strong participation from everyone. It turned into a genuinely memorable night. The people who came made it special, and I’m grateful for every bit of support.

What many people don’t know is that Once Upon a Balance Sheet almost didn’t make it here.

My originalpublisher went bankrupt halfway through the journey, and for close to two years the project was stuck. There were stretches where it felt like the book would never see daylight — that everything I had written, everything I had planned, might simply stay inside a folder on my computer. Finally seeing the book come to life, and being able to celebrate it with a room full of people, carried a meaning that was hard to describe.

That’s why Balance Sheet Night meant so much to me.
It wasn’t simply a launch.
It was the first time the book could finally go out and do what it was created for — helping people who don’t see themselves as “finance people” make sense of the numbers in their world.

It wasn’t written to be another technical guide. The world has enough of those. This book was created to make finance easier to understand for people who have always wished someone would just explain it more clearly.

Thank you to everyone who showed up, reached out, or supported in your own way. I may not tag everyone by name, but I remember the conversations, the reactions in the room, and the way people joined in throughout the session.

We also introduced Count Jargon® that evening — part of the world-first concept we launched in finance learning, with an author-created, trademarked character brought to life as a plush companion. Watching the response in the room made that moment stand out.

Thank you again for being part of it.

Here’s the full story behind this world-first launch:
https://www.singaporenewsdigest.com/article/867851640-world-s-first-finance-book-for-non-finance-professionals-launches-with-author-created-trademarked-learning-plush

Had a really enjoyable and meaningful conversation with Roshan about the ideas and experiences that shaped Once Upon a Balance Sheet.

We spoke about why so many capable leaders still feel uncertain about finance, and how the Financial Storyverse® helps make concepts understandable and usable in everyday decision-making.

We also revisited the five-year journey that brought the book to life.

Losing a publisher midway and rebuilding everything from a single PDF was not easy, but seeing readers connect with the ideas today makes the entire journey worthwhile.

If you’ve ever wished for a clearer or more relatable way to understand the numbers, this interview may offer a new perspective.

Watch the full episode here:
https://lnkd.in/ggEtjwBC

Once Upon a Balance Sheet (Amazon #1 Hot New Release, Amazon Bestseller):
Singapore & Malaysia: https://lnkd.in/gKsvxHrw
Worldwide: https://lnkd.in/gmW7F7wm

Seventy-two hours on, and I’m still quietly grateful for this.

Once Upon a Balance Sheet has become both an Amazon Hot New Release #1 and an Amazon Best Seller — right above books on AI and ChatGPT.

It’s a small reminder that even in a tech-driven world, people still want stories that make sense of the numbers.

Finance doesn’t need to be complex to be clear.

If this resonates with you:

Singapore & Malaysia (with free shipping):
https://lnkd.in/gKsvxHrw

Worldwide (eBook + Paperback):
https://lnkd.in/gmW7F7wm