Accounting for dummies / John A Tracy, CPA.

Includes index.

Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Introduction; About This Book; Foolish Assumptions; Icons Used in This Book; Beyond the Book; Where to Go from Here; Part 1 Opening the Books on Accounting; Chapter 1 Accounting Spoken Here; Checking Your Preconceptions about Accounting; Thinking about where assets come from; Asking about profit; Sorting out stereotypes of accountants; Providing Vital Financial Information; Recognizing users of accounting information; Using accounting in your personal financial life; Seeing accounting at work; Taking a Peek behind the Scenes

Categorizing financial information: The chart of accountsStandardize source documents and data entry procedures for recording activities; Hire competent personnel; Get involved in end-of-period procedures; Leave good audit trails; Keep alert for unusual events and developments; Design truly useful reports for managers; Enforce Strong Internal Controls; Double-Entry Accounting; Juggling the Books to Conceal Embezzlement and Fraud; Using Accounting Software in the Cloud and on the Ground; Chapter 4 Knowing the Accounting Entity; Being Aware of the Legal Roots of Business Entities

Focusing on TransactionsSeparating basic types of transactions; Knowing who's on the other side of transactions; Recording events; Taking the Financial Pulse of a Business; Meeting the balance sheet (statement of financial condition); Reporting profit and loss; Reporting cash flows and changes in owners' equity; Remembering management's role; Mapping Accounting Careers; Certified public accountant (CPA); Moving up in management; Looking at the controller: The chief accountant in an organization; Moving on to other careers; Chapter 2 Introducing Financial Statements

How's profit performance?Is there enough cash?; Can you trust financial statement numbers?; Why no cash distribution from profit?; Keeping in Compliance with Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards; Looking at who makes the standards; Knowing about GAAP; Divorcing public and private companies; Following the rules and bending the rules; Chapter 3 Keeping the Books and Guarding the Family Jewels; Separating the Duties of Bookkeepers and Accountants; Pedaling through the Bookkeeping Cycle; Getting to the end of the period; Finishing up for the period; Managing Accounting Systems

Setting the Stage for Financial StatementsOffering a few preliminary comments about financial statements; Looking at other aspects of reporting financial statements; Income Statement; Presenting the components of the income statement; Income statement pointers; Balance Sheet; Presenting the components of the balance sheet; Balance sheet pointers; Statement of Cash Flows; Presenting the components of the statement of cash flows; Statement of cash flows pointers; A Note about the Statement of Changes in Shareowners' Equity; Gleaning Important Information from Financial Statements

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