An introduction to the fundamentals of accounting and how it is used that will help students apply accounting as a usable, everyday business tool. It adopts an intuitive, informal approach to describe basic principles – what they are, why they exist and how they are used – to help students see the connections between different parts of accounting and the rest of the business world. Written by an award-winning teacher and former management accountant, it encourages students to engage with the material by using questions and worked examples to test knowledge and understanding as they read. It includes a glossary of financial terms that is a useful guide to the language of business. Part of the Cambridge Short Introductions series of concise, authoritative guides to core subjects in business and management.
Yes, this book is an introduction, but after confessing a steep learning curve up front it gets trickier. I enjoyed having this as a complement to other materials. The informal (but not dumbed down) style of writing helped me better understand some things that had confused me when they were presented in other sources. It flowed very naturally from one subject to the next. The challenge of writing up the balance sheets, income statements and SCFs was a good way to learn, and I would've learned more if I had done more of them. Laziness allows you to skip ahead and see it all brought together for you, which has its merits as well.