Customer Reviews
Good Basic Introduction 
2008-10-02
This book is basically a novice's introduction to accounting and has, for that individual, very good detail that is straight forward and easy to understand. The author covers the essentials of balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow very well with pretty easy examples and good interpretations and definitions. The latter part of the book has more discussion of current accounting issues and principles in fairly simple terms. Not a lot of hard detail, so this book is not for an individual experienced in the world of finance. An example is Sarbanes Oxley, which although the cover says it is covered in a blurb, it really is only covered in a few pages. The book is entertaining in areas as all these books are. Thus, it's a good introduction for those with little knowledge and should be seen as a building block to a more challenging publication.
Just waht I needed 
2008-09-16
This book is well-written, and covers the topics I had hoped it would. It has helped me get an understanding about the basics of accounting. As a small business owner I don't need all the technical stuff... and this was geared to my level. I'm glad I bought it. I'm actually going to read it again just to cement some of the ideas into my thinking.
Helpful Book! 2008-08-17
Great book. It helped me understand accounting and it was easy to pick up the tricks and the trades of this course.
Great book - very simple. 2007-06-05
Great book. I can't do math (I went to private school) but even I was able to follow the clear, well written formulas in this book.
Great Book! 2006-11-07
This is a great accounting book, but I work in a government office and the procedures here are very different that what is depicted in the book. I found some sections very helpful though and if I worked at a small business and was required to set up an accounting system this would have been that perfect book.
Excellent ... for certain purposes 2006-07-26
Learn the basics of practical accounting easily and painlessly with
Accounting For Dummies, 4th Edition, which features new information on accounting methods and standards to keep you up to date. With this guide, you can avoid accounting fraud, minimize confusion, maximize profits, and make sense of accounting basics with this plain-English guide to your accountant’s language. Understand how to manage inventory, report income and expenses for public or private companies, evaluate profit margins, analyze business strengths and weaknesses, and manage budgets for a better bottom line.
Great Overview 2006-07-10
I am an entry-level financial analyst straight out of college with little accounting experience (due to a broad liberal arts education) and who had never read the 3 financial statements prior to working. This book was my savior. It explains accounting on a conceptual level, which has been perfect for me. Great for an analyst, not the book for an auditor, obviously. It's great for someone who wants to learn to analyze and become proficient/literate at reading the statements, not for someone who wants to know exactly how to do bookkeeping (which is exactly how the author qualifies his book in the beginning). I'm a big fan of John Tracy's writing, which is easy to read and concise. This book led me to read his other accounting book, "How to read a Financial Report," also a great read.
Misnamed 
2006-04-07
Although billed as a reference on accounting, this book is very inadequate for that purpose.
There are numerous accounting basics that are not mentioned or only touched on in passing. Among those that are not addressed at all are the following: monetary measurement, separate entity, realization, materiality. There are also other essentials that are missing.
There are several other fundamentals that are not covered adequately. Items in this category include these: FIFO, LIFO, and double entry accounting. Even the three essential reports of accounting - the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows - are inadequately covered.
This may be ok as a supplement to another book, but it is lacking a bit as a standalone on the subject it purports to cover.
Good supplement for your accounting class! 2006-03-07
When I saw that I was foundering in my second attempt to pass accounting, I bought this book. It seemed to complement my textbook well. After reading this book I seemed to be able to understand the textbook and my accounting class better. In the end, I not only passed but received an "A" in the class. Might be due to the Dummies book, might be due to the time that I spent in my determination to pass.
I'm not saying that you'll get an A in your accounting class if you buy this book, but it will help you out if your instructor chose a poor accounting textbook.
Like all Dummies books, this is well written and well organized. I'd check it out if you find yourself confused in your Accounting class.
Good explanations 2005-09-30
This book is suitable for those who want to understand what accounting is about. It provides good explanation for the dual-entry system and various ratios. After going through half of this book, my wife has gained some appreciation for basic accounting concepts.
Personally I think the book would be better if it includes some more exercises in number crunching. That is why it only gets four stars.
This book is useful for a casual person who wants to learn accounting. If you are an accounting student, don't expect this book to do better than your professor.
