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Accounts Demystified: The Astonishingly Simple Guide To Accounting
£12.90£16.10 (-20%)
The bestselling and astonishingly simple guide to the fundamental principles of accounting, written specifically for those without a financial background.
Simple, easily absorbed and clearly explained, this book will guide you through all the major accounting concepts. You will learn how to master company accounts, understand balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and cash flow systems and how to analyse and monitor your company’s financial performance.
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Additional information
| Publisher | 7th edition (24 Sept. 2015), Pearson Business |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 328 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1292084847 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1292084848 |
| Dimensions | 15.6 x 1.88 x 23.39 cm |
by P. Lacey
A book that really does do what it says on the cover. Most accounting books I’ve read fail to provide the foundation of what it is all about before diving into the details, generally resulting is later confusion.
After reading the first few chapters of this book you’ll realise that it (company accounts) aren’t half as complicated as they look.
If you’ve been confused about double entry and the way debit/credit can both refer to increasing and decreasing balances the explaination contained will clear away the fog. Obviously not something most people care about but it is something that has put me off doing accounts for myself.
However it isn’t really a book for those are learning accountancy as a profession, other than if you want a good primer to then build upon, but for someone wanting to learn how to read company accounts to support investment decisions or find out what you accountant is doing.
It is absolutely worth the money.
There are a few chapters covering book keeping aspects which are a bit heavy going but then I wasn’t particularly interested in these aspects.
Also covers some financial analysis which again is done in a way that (for me at least) help make sense of it rather than just dump lots of financial ratios in your face and tell you how useful they are.
Really wish I’d found this book a lot earlier.
by MSinghM
This is a great book as an introduction to Accounting. The setting of characters and their cases sets the scene so I recommend reading the intro properly to understand. Anthony certainly explains the book in simple terms so I enjoyed it. Personally speaking I was only interested in the first 60% of the book. A big let down is that along a lot of the accounting reports and graphs are at he back of the book !!! So you had to skip between what you’re reading and the back of the book (not easy on a kindle)
by Alexa
I bough this book on a recommendation of a friend as I was trying to understand the complex trust accounting and needed to brush up my skills. This is a great book. I was able to follow it easily and create a complex mock up accounts at the end.
by Chuffy’s Choice
Really liked the practical nature of the book. The teaching methodology, starting with the macro – the balance sheet and fitting each aspect of the accounts within this frame is a powerful teaching technique!!
by Peppermint50
Love this book. I got it in preparation for a post grad course in accounting and it was a great refresher as well as an update of my knowledge pre-course. And I learned material I didn’t already know. I have not rated it 5 stars as there were a couple of sections that dragged on a bit, but they are not relevant to my course and others may find them helpful.
by Peter Comber
I teach non-accountants how to use accounting information. Almost all books allegedly directed at non-accountants fail to address the basic needs of entrepreneurs and managers, who just don’t want to be baffled by accountants. This book actually provides what is needed, although it is less concise than the 64-page guide by Ralph Whitaker.
by rc
Started reading the book as studying for exam thought it would help unfortunately got to chapter 2 and the web page it tells you to look at doesn’t work oops this page could not be found
by Baggie
I always thought accounting was a subject too complex to get my head around, but needed to get to grips with it for my own small business and to get an understanding of company accounts to get some insight into whether I was looking at a good investment or not. As a non-accountant, this really hit the spot for me! It builds things up from first principles in a very readable way and I no longer feel intimidated by accounts. It does what it says on the tin, although if you’re looking for a deep understanding of listed company accounts it runs out of steam a bit at the end – although that’s a subject in it’s own right and I wouldn’t fault it for that (other than perhaps going a bit further than it does currently with the listed company example it provides to demonstrate the equivalent financial ratio calculations it provides for a small – less complex – non-listed company as an appendix).