Synopses & Reviews
Whether you’re a small business owner or just want to understand your 401(k) statements, a basic understanding of accounting practices is important for anyone who handles money. Knowing how to balance the books and stay in the black is vital for keeping a business afloat or keeping your checkbook balanced.
If you need to keep the books in order, this new edition of Accounting For Dummieshelps you get a handle on all those columns of numbers. It offers fully up-to-date coverage of accounting basics and includes all the tools and tips you need to:
- Make sense of bookkeeping basics
- Read a financial statement
- Manage budgets for a better bottom line
- Analyze business strengths and weaknesses
- Evaluate accounting methods and business structures
John Tracy, Certified Public Accountant and former professor of accounting, presents everything you need to know to master modern accounting. Packed with practical guidance and real-world scenarios, this handy guide covers it all:
- Making and reporting profit
- Reporting a company’s financial condition
- Preparing financial reports
- Budgeting profit and cash flow
- Choosing and implementing accounting methods
- How to read a financial report
- Audits, accounting fraud, and audit failure
- How to decipher accounting jargon
- And savvy ways businesses use accounting
From balance sheets, to income statements, to inventory, almost every aspect of modern business requires basic accounting techniques. You’ll learn it all here. Plus, this new edition covers the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, recent accounting fraud scandals, the establishment of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and the new financial reporting standards for stock options and financial derivatives.
Review
“…insightful and well-reasoned…” (Money Matters, October 2004)
Synopsis
Become a better manager by speaking your accountant's language
Use smart accounting to maximize profits and minimize confusion
Whether you're a small business owner or a manager responsible for keeping your company profitable, this new edition of Accounting For Dummies helps you get a handle on all those numbers your accountant gives you. Accounting basics for business and personal finances help you balance your books and stay in the black.
Discover how to
- Make sense of bookkeeping basics
- Read a financial statement
- Manage budgets for a better bottom line
- Analyze business strengths and weaknesses
- Evaluate accounting methods and business structures
Synopsis
Not everyone is cut out to be a professional accountant. But thanks to
Accounting For Dummies, 2nd Edition you can get a handle on the financial aspects of your business, investments, or taxes. Accounting professor and author John A. Tracy sheds light on the mysteries of
- Generating income statements and balance sheets
- Establishing budgets, controlling profit and cash flow, stemming losses, and managing inventory
- Evaluating profit margins – and identifying ways to increase them
- Making financial decisions that keep investors, creditors, and managers satisfied
- Reading financial reports
- Surviving an audit and using the results to improve your accounting system
- Putting the latest computer technology to work to help you manage the bottom line
If you've steered clear of accounting because you thought it incomprehensible by mere mortals, prepare to be enlightened. Accounting For Dummies, 2nd Edition empowers you with knowledge you can't afford to be without.
Synopsis
Praise for 1st Edition of Accounting For Dummies
® "Essential reading for all of us who want to manage our business finances effectively." Mary Metcalfe, Partner, Envirocomm Communications "[Tracy] has an uncanny knack for explaining complicated accounting and financial material." G. Dale Meyer, Professor, College of Business, University of Colorado "A wealth of practical information on understanding how to manage budgets." Jack Rudolph, Retired President, Colorado Community First National Bank
Find out how to improve your profits and control costs
Get a better grip on stock options and earnings per share Whether you're a small business owner, a manager with budget responsibilities, or just want to understand your 401(k) statements, this friendly guide helps you get a handle on all those columns of numbers and shows how you can use accounting and financial reports to control business costs, minimize taxes, and maximize profits.
Discover how to: Make sense of bookkeeping basics Read a financial statement Manage budgets for a better bottom line Analyze business strengths and weaknesses Evaluate accounting methods and business structures
Get smart! www.dummies.com Register to win cool prizes Browse exclusive articles and excerpts Get a free Dummies Daily e-mail newsletter Chat with authors and preview other books Talk to us, ask questions, get answers
About the Author
John A. Tracy, CPA, a former staff accountant at Ernst & Young, taught accounting at the University of Colorado for many years. His other books include the 250,000 copy bestseller, How to Read a Financial Report.
Table of Contents
Introduction.
PART I: Accounting Basics.
Chapter 1: Introducing Accounting to Non-Accountants.
Chapter 2: Bookkeeping 101: From Shoeboxes to Computers.
Chapter 3: Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes.
Chapter 4: Accounting and Your Personal Finances.
PART II: Getting a Grip on Financial Statements.
Chapter 5: Profit Mechanics.
Chapter 6: The Balance Sheet from the Income Statement Viewpoint.
Chapter 7: Cash Flows and the Cash Flow Statement.
Chapter 8: Getting a Financial Report Ready for Prime Time.
PART III: Accounting in Managing a Business.
Chapter 9: Managing Profit Performance.
Chapter 10: Business Budgeting.
Chapter 11: Choosing the Right Ownership Structure.
Chapter 12: Cost Conundrums.
Chapter 13: Choosing Accounting Methods.
PART IV: Financial Reports in the Outside World.
Chapter 14: How Investors Read a Financial Report.
Chapter 15: CPAs: Auditors and Advisors.
PART V: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 16: Ten Ways Savvy Business Managers Use Accounting.
Chapter 17: Ten Questions Investors Should Ask When Reading a Financial Report.
Appendix A: Glossary: Slashing through the Accounting Jargon Jungle.
Appendix B: Accounting Software.
index.
Book Registration information.