Book Description

The Ultimate Accountants’ Reference offers a single-source tool of best practices and control systems related to accounting regulations for all aspects of financial statements, accounting management reports, and management of the accounting department.The perfect daily answer book for the practicing accountant, it also addresses financing options, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, and taxation topics.

This revised and updated edition of Accounting Reference Desktop offers a concentrated, everyday reference manual to help financial professionals become much more efficient in researching accounting topics.New features of this improved resource tool include:

• Up-to-date information on GAAP, IRS regulations, and new SEC regulations
• New material on leases and options
• More examples than the previous edition
• The latest coverage of control systems, including twice as many controls as the previous edition
• Double the amount of journal entries as the previous edition

Accountants, accounting managers, and finance personnel will turn to The Ultimate Accountants’ Reference time and again for quick, reliable answers to everyday issues. ... Read more

Book Description

A comprehensive, accessible, and innovative approach to a potentially devastating problem.

When a firm's actual earnings fall significantly short of expectations, it's not just the company that suffers. Lenders, equity investors, accountants, auditors, and consultants can also take a hit from this "earnings surprise."

Financial Warnings is designed for one purpose—to make sure that such a shortfall never undermines your financial security. Clearly and systematically, this unique practical guide helps you:

• Understand the many causes of earnings surprises, including fraud, overstated revenues, undervalued liabilities, and many more
• Identify the early warning signals associated with particular earnings surprises, so you can take prompt corrective action
• Prevent earnings surprises from happening in the first place by improving the quality of earnings forecasts

Financial Warnings comes complete with a unique early warning system to put you on the alert for potential trouble, foolproof checklists to help you spot those "yellow flags," a convenient sustainable earnings worksheet to sharpen your earnings forecasts, and plenty of vivid case histories to show you how to anticipate and avoid earnings surprises—not just on paper, but in the real world.

A material difference between a corporation's expected and actual earnings, otherwise known as an earnings surprise, can spell big trouble for lenders and equity investors, to say nothing of the company in question. The failure to anticipate a negative result can threaten a lender's prospects for loan repayment, cause investors to absorb heavy losses, and trigger substantial losses on positions in equity securities.

Dedicated to the principle that "forewarned is forearmed," this book provides accountants and other users of financial statements with the resources needed to avoid these damaging financial discrepancies. Charles Mulford and Eugene Comiskey employ numerous case studies to examine and define these discrepancies and classify earnings surprises according to their major causes: changing economics, fraud, and aggressive application of GAAP. They then examine the results of a survey of bankers and develop a system for rating earnings surprise potential. This Earnings Reversal Score concisely categorizes cautionary signals, such as profitability, liquidity, and management-related early warnings, enabling accountants to recognize problems and take timely corrective measures.

Financial Warnings helps improve the quality of earnings forecasts as well. With the aid of a detailed worksheet and a pair of extended case studies, you'll learn how to locate material nonrecurring items—a major cause of earnings surprises—and determine a firm's sustainable earnings base more accurately. You'll discover how to pinpoint differences in the book and market values of assets and liabilities, which, if undetected, can also result in earnings surprises. In addition, you'll learn the early warning indicators of fraudulent financial reporting, as well as crucial information on the role and responsibility of auditors in detecting such fraud.

An important resource for accountants, executives, CFOs, and company auditors, Financial Warnings is an indispensable guide for investors and others who depend on the accuracy of earnings projections. Even if you have only a tentative understanding of basic accounting issues, this easily accessible presentation will help you develop the knowledge and skills you need to formulate more accurate earnings expectations and avoid the potential disasters caused by earnings surprises. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Gem!
Impeccable, a must read for investors, bankers, corporate finance pros. Highly recommended.

Best financial book for your money.
The funny thing is that I have read over 20 books on financial analysis and investing, and I believe that every penny that I have spent on this book was well worth it. The price of the book scared me at first, but where all of the other books that I read fell short, Financial Warnings did not. I was very impressed with the detail to which the book describes each investment scenario. There is no shortage of financial warnings to look out for. In fact, I was shocked to learn of how many warnings lenders and investors should be aware of. Not only has this book taught me about what to avoid, but also about what to buy. Did you know that the CEO or CFO going through a divorce is a financial warning? Did you know that a company entering a new business is a financial warning? Did you know that beating earnings expectations by one penny every quarter is a financial warning when your competitor fell short of expectations? This is a must read. Reading Financial Warnings has changed my life. It is a must read.

Sans pareil!
The book is an excellent treatise which provides the readers a systematic framework for figuring out whether the books have been manipulated or if the accounting has been aggressive, through finding out non-recurring items in the income statement and balance sheet. I have tried other books but, they just do not compare with this treatise. The book uses a systematic step-by-step approach which introduces the reader to how to read the fine print. This book should be invaluable to finance and accounting professionals, and also to amateur investors, who would be willing to do a little research into the company books.

For those who not lucky enough to attend Dr. Mulford's class, this book should do a great job.

Listens to all the reviewers
To all the people who are skeptical. This book is excellent. I got an email pointing me to this direction and I am glad I did spend the money. It is money well spend.

It teachs you the non recuring items in the financial statements, capitalized assets, capitalized interest, Lifo liquidation etc.

If you find my review satisfying, let me know if you had another good book to read. I know another book, let's trade some info.

Carefully Detailed, First-Rate Handling of a Difficult Topic
This book blew me away. Other efforts on this difficult topic (forensic accounting?), although available much less expensively, seriously pale when lined up next to this text. Any serious investor in securities is doing him or herself a tremendous disservice by not reading and digesting this book, which serves to do more than merely avoid next quarter's crummy earnings announcement. The only problem with this book, aside from its price, is its need to be read more than once or twice. There is simply too much to be digested with one reading. But well-conceived and well-written financial literature is hard to find, and here the reader will find the mother-load. ... Read more

Book Description

Turn financial statements into powerful allies in your decision making

Whether you're an investor, creditor, consultant, regulator, manager-or an employee concerned about your company's well-being and the stability of your job-the ability to successfully interpret and analyze financial statements gives you a leg up in today's rough-and-tumble marketplace. Analysis of Financial Statements, Fifth Edition, by Leopold A. Bernstein and John J. Wild, gives you every practical, up-to-date method for making the data in financial statements clear and meaningful. You get analytical tools that range from computation of ratio and cash flow measures to earnings prediction and valuation as you learn how to reconstruct the economic reality embedded in financial statements. User-friendly and engaging, this hands-on classic is loaded with graphs, charts, and tables, so you can see how topics relate to the business practices of actual companies. A concluding comprehensive case analysis of the Campbell Soup Company gives shape and color to the author's step-by-step lessons.

Reviews (2)

Informative, but hard to read
I did not finish this book because it is written in a very academic and hard to grasp language. Authors, please make your sentences a little shorter and simpler, the book is very boring and verbose! However, I must give credit to the authors for including almost all of the tools one will need for analysis of financial statements.

Each edition of this book just gets better and better!
I have bought every edition of this book, and it just keeps getting better and better. As a 25 year veteran of corporate finance, I continue to use this book myself on a regular basis and to recommend it to less experienced employees who are still developing their expertise. Every finance library should have this book. ... Read more

Book Description

This popular book on business ethics contains a diverse collection of readings and cases. It begins with an introduction to moral reasoning, and then provides readers with a wide range of opportunities to apply ethical theory to real contemporary managerial situations—including issues facing managers in the next century.Each section contains a case study and relevant theoretical articles that range from classics in philosophy to modern commentaries by business practitioners. Five sections cover general issues in ethics; property, profit, and justice; corporations, persons, and morality; international business; and contemporary business themes. For professionals in the business fields of accounting, finance, marketing, and more. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great book
Although I only purchased this book for an Business Ethics class, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject.

An enlightening Book
It is an excellent book for newcomers to the field of Business ethics.Being a new field the authors have given numerous examples of real life cases for the students to appreciate this field.The cases make understanding more easy.Its to be noted that this field has now drawn a roundtable among the giants of the corporate world.The book deals with the moral issues before going to the business front. Good reading. ... Read more

Book Description

As each new accounting question or scandal hits Wall Street, investment professionals too often find themselves asking, “What happened?” Accounting for M&A, Equity, and Credit Analysts answers the most common accounting questions, all in an easy-to-follow format designed to provide investment professionals with real-world, hands-on knowledge of key accounting treatments, models, and practices. Written by well-known M&A expert James E. Morris, this versatile accounting desk reference bridges the gap between what is taught in business school and what is needed in the real world.

Reviews (1)

Totally on point
In an email to the author, a Vice President (Mergers & Acquisitions) from a leading global investment bank writes -- Just polished off the 1st chapter on equity method investing. Totally on point. We just advised someone on a potential minority investment in a distributor and every one of these issues about phantom write-ups and cash flow impact came up.

Nice job - ... Read more

Book Description

There's no mystery to understanding company financial statements Even if you have no financial or accounting background, you can read those intimidating-looking financial statements as easily as A-B-C. The second edition of The Guide to Understanding Financial Statements, by S.B. Costales and Geza Szurovy, makes all the numbers and jargon absolutely clear. In seconds you'll spot a company's strengths and weaknesses, see how its performance measures up, and have a solid basis for judging future prospects. The material is so easy to grasp, you'll know it all on first reading, Discover: what a balance sheet really reveals; the true significance of a profit and loss statement; what the six most important financial ratios are, and what each can tell you; how to tell when the numbers are favorable or not; how to spot fraud; how to discover whether the stated value of certain asests is true; much more. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Buy!!! Easy to Read and Understand
This book was a big help to me. Having only a basic education in accounting, this book laid it out for me in a simple, easy-to-read manner. Definately a good buy!

A Hands Down Great Book For Beginning Managers
This book is amazing in that it gives a comprehensive,consise, and simple explanation for finicial statements. I have read many such books, yet this tops them all for its relative simplicity while still being able to get across its point. I would recommend this book to any beginning accountant, manager, or investor. This book shed light on information overlooked by unexperienced businessmen and is a great buy. ... Read more

Book Description

While many texts characterize themselves as having either a user approach or a preparer approach, Williams, Financial Accounting, is written for faculty who want to strike a balance between these approaches. Business majors will find relevance in the Management Strategy, Your Turn and Case in Point boxes throughout the chapters while accounting majors will receive a firm grounding in accounting basics that will properly prepare them for their intermediate accounting course. Perhaps the most important new feature is the online companion, My Mentor. This text-specific online resource uses video clips, animated graphics and Excel templates to demonstrate accounting concepts, expressing accounting visually. This solves a problem that many introductory students have in accounting: It allows them to link concepts and numbers together in a interactive rather than print environment. ... Read more

Book Description

A fully revised guidebook on the basics of accounting-- updated to cover an increasingly complex financial arena

In the wake of recent accounting scandals, most managers now realize they need to know more about the inner workings of finance. Many, however, don't know where they will find the time. The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Finance for Non-Financial Managers is designed to give readers a working mastery of all finance essentials in just 36 hours and has now been updated to help readers understand the substantial regulatory and practical changes that have taken place in the new world of business accounting. This hands-on workbook delivers its information in accessible and reader-friendly style, including self-study questions and case studies for each chapter. Information new to this edition includes:

• Key updates to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)
• Sections detailing what auditing is and what auditors do
• Entirely new sections on pro forma financial statements, stock options as an expense, and more

Book Description

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING provides a solid foundation of accounting concepts with unique features to show how professionals can use accounting to understand business. FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING, 9th Edition, uses the preparation of financial statements as the framework for understanding what accounting is all about. ... Read more

Book Description

Whether you’re starting a new business or expanding an existing one, this updated guide will help you create a financial, organizational, and operational blueprint for success! Now you can put the expertise of the leading professionals at Ernst & Young to work for you and your company with this complete guide to researching, writing, and presenting a winning business plan. This practical guide leads you carefully through every aspect involved in planning and development—illustrating each step with a realistic sample that shows you exactly what you’ll need. You’ll get the nuts-and-bolts of formatting and design…techniques on how to tailor your plan to the various people and institutions who will review it…new information on funding and financing methods…and special provisions for restructuring and bankruptcy…and the influence of new laws and regulations. Totally updated and revised, this Second Edition also tells you what to include as attachments to your business plan…discusses the impact of information technology on keeping your business plan up-to-date…and presents a new section on how to include buying a company in your business plan. Clear, comprehensive and authoritative, The Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide, Second Edition will help you put together a winning, successful business plan. Ernst & Young is the leading international professional services firm, with 65,000 people in more than 600 cities in over 100 countries, including 24,000 people in more than 100 U.S. cities. A founder and continuing sponsor of the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award, Ernst & Young has unique professional resources that enable it to serve both the great number of Fortune 500 companies and more owner-managed and entrepreneurial businesses than any other Big 6 accounting firm. The firm is also the author of the best selling The Ernst & Young Tax Guide, The Ernst & Young Guide to Total Cost Management, The Ernst & Young Guide to Raising Capital, and many more business-oriented books. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

This book is my bible
This book says it all very concisely, no fluff. I've written three business plans with it. Read a chapter in the book, write a chapter of the plan. The examples are very good. I just hit $1MM in sales on my third try - I give this book a lot of credit for helping me get organized.

Good explanations, but ....
This book explains the business plan in sufficient detail to let you understand what is needed to create a business plan. If you're not proficient already in writing business plans, you'll need a Ernst & Young consultant to have any use of the book. Of course, then you'll probably get the book for free ater having paid their fees. In short, nice to read but absolutely not the first bookon the subject to recommend to anyone.

Well delivered information neatly and compactly written
I think this book does of a great job of succintly outlining the dos and donts of business plan writing. I also think that the example plan is most instructional. The only thing it could do better is to put in a sample business plan that is based on a services model, rather than a products model. It also could touch on the Internet as a special information resource.

Quick read, yet detailed.
If you're looking for something more than "Business Plans for Dummies" but don't need a textbook this is the book for you. Reads quickly, gives some pertinent details. A sample plan is used to illustrate components and the author comments on its strong and weak points. ... Read more

Book Description

This powerful study guide includes all subjects found in the leading textbooks and parallels the full-year cost accounting courses most schools offer. Also appropriate for solo study, this book makes the complex concepts and techniques accessible through clear explanations and solved problems to provide a review and help students master their skills.

Reviews (1)

Standard Cost Systems
What are standard cost systems ... Read more

Book Description

Praise for Strategic Corporate Tax Planning

"Business decision-makers need to think bottom line, and that means after taxes. This book does a fine job of helping managers get to the bottom line without getting bogged down in the details of taxes." –Donald H. Dye, Dean, the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Riverside, former CEO, Callaway Golf

"This book is a must for any engineer who goes into management, or goes out on his own." –John N. Friend, Vice President and Chief Engineer, Delta Scientific Corp., Valencia, California

"Perhaps the books greatest value is in providing a window into the American business mind." –Kelvin Ketteringham, Managing Director, Caversham Ltd., Reading, England

"Strategic Corporate Tax Planning is a great handbook for entrepreneurial professionals." –Steve S. Gupta, MD, La Canada-Flintridge, California ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great for Technical People!
Introduction to Financial reporting and the how to's for analytical thinkers not familiar with finance. Now required reading for my staff of engineering managers & sales people. The book gives you clear insight into what the 3 basic accounting reports are, why they exist and the world of GAP. A wonderful introduction with some depth. ... Read more

Book Description

The fourth edition of Financial Accounting: The Impact on Decision Makers, An Alternative to Debits and Credits, 4econtinues to focus on the user/decision maker perspective. Transactions, which as presented in a spreadsheet (accounting equation) format, are used to help students understand the impact on financial information. The authors use the financial statements from Winnebago Industries and Monaco Coach throughout the chapter and end of chapter material. Porter/Norton is unique in its use of these competing companies for comparative financial analysis and in end of chapter cases. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Quick & Easy
After purchasing one of those "for dummies" type books on Accounting I purchased this book. I have found it to be an easy and quick read, clear, concise, to the point and very helpful. I was looking for something simple and just wanted to cover the basics - this book met my needs perfectly.

Dry
Mr. Rachlin and Sweeny make no excuses for writting a dry book. "The field of basic accounting and finance frankly offers little that is new or exciting." Sorry, I just couldn't take this tone. Try the McGraw-Hill 36-Hour book for a more lively presentation of the basics.

Understandable Accounting!!
This book about finance and accounting concepts is especially useful to professionals with no formal training in finance, budgeting, investment or accounting. As an urban planner and development advisor, I am often presented with land use proposals which are framed in financial and accounting terms. This book offers a clear and simple approach to these disciplines and has given me the tools to make much more informed decisions in my work. I highly recommend it to others in my trade and to those, like me, who often glaze over finance and accounting terminology.

Accounting with Rachlin and Sweeny
I highly recommend the Rachlin and Sweeny book. As a professor of accounting at a major university in Florida, I teach accounting to both accounting and nonaccounting majors. I am particularly impressed by two features of this book. First, it presents the basic concepts of accounting and finance in an easy to read format without compromising technical accuracy. Second, and more importantly, it shows the reader how to use these basic concepts in making business decisions. The result is an interesting (yes,interesting!) and effective presentation. My compliments to the authors!

Useful knowledge for Executives
This friendly and useful book is a must for those wanting to understand the financial aspects of business. It is well organized and very accessible. My business partner and I welcomed the practical approach taken by the authors. We found the contents immediately useable in our Internet business which is based on our research at Harvard University. This book creates a solid foundation upon which to build deeper understanding of the financial world. We recommend it highly, it is on our reference shelf and should be on yours. ... Read more

Book Description

Praise for Detail Process Charting

"A must-read for any competitive organization, Detail Process Charting: Speaking the Language of Process provides a comprehensive, yet clear, explanation of how to utilize one of the most powerful tools available to improve work processes. [Graham] has successfully integrated the history, success stories, and wisdom of those in the field who have applied this time-tested tool."
–Jim Denyes, Training Manager
Naval Occupational Safety and Health, and Environmental Training Center
Author, Work Smarter, Not Harder

"This book will be a valuable resource for all those interested in work simplification and its implementation. Excellent answers to the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘when,’ ‘how,’ and ‘why’ of work simplification are provided in an understandable and very useful level of detail. Graham has obviously ‘been there, done that.’ "
–John A. Roberts III, Adjunct Professor
School of Business Administration, University of Dayton

"The keys to this approach . . . are the involvement of the workers and the simplicity of the charting approach. Even those participants who have never seen a process chart can almost instantly see how the process works, their role in it, and how it can be improved. This level of involvement means continuous buy-in, which significantly improves the chances of success. The emphasis on the document as the key process element and the ability to diagram the document to flow easily, rapidly, and clearly set this approach apart from all the others."
–Fredric D. Heilbronner, Director of Systems Consulting, eForms
Digital Consulting & Software Services, Inc.

"Much has been written about charting and business systems analysis, but I have not seen anything as comprehensive and clear as Ben Graham’s book. Writing in simple, easy-to-follow language with plentiful illustrations and practical examples, this book takes the reader through the full spectrum of the charting process from initial analysis to managing charting libraries. This book is a must-have for all process improvement analysts and managers wanting to improve their organizational efficiency."
–Robert Barnett, Managing Director
Robert Barnett and Associates Pty. Ltd. ... Read more

Book Description

Two of the most innovative thinkers in the field present a workthat represents the single best resource for understanding andimplementing activity-based cost management.Kaplan and Cooper revealthat most companies don't know how to measure accurately, influence, orunderstand the fundamental cost drivers in their businesses.They thenprovide a detailed and comprehensive blueprint that will enablemanagers to make better decisions and to promote organizationallearning and improvement.

Cost and Effect takes the management,finance, and accounting fields to an entirely new level, as the authorsdemonstrate how the principles of activity-based costing and otheradvanced cost management techniques, such as target and kaizen costing,can drive business performance.Using lively examples from a varietyof leading companies worldwide--including Siemens, Hewlett-Packard,AT&T, the Swedish wire manufacturer Kanthal, Kirin Beer, and Procter &Gamble--they show how to create integrated, knowledge-based systemsthat provide meaningful information on current and pastperformance.

The innovation systems described in Cost and Effectwill help you: Determine where improvements in quality, efficiency,and productivity will have the highest payoffs. Assist front-lineemployees in their learning and improvement activities. Make betterproduct mix and capital investment decisions. Negotiate moreeffectively on price, product features, quality, delivery, and serviceto promote win-win relationships with your customers. Choose low-costsuppliers who are truly low cost, not just low price. Design productsand services that meet customers' expectations--and that can beproduced and delivered at a profit. Integrate your activity-basedcost system into reporting and budgeting processes to reveal thesources of excess capacity.

Everyone involved in running abusiness--from general managers and strategic planners to financialexecutives, IT professionals, and operations managers--must read thisbook to learn how innovative cost and performance measurement systemscan enhance their organizational profitability and performance. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

BEST ANALYSIS OF ACTIVITY BASED COSTING AND HOW TO GUIDE
Kaplan and Cooper have put together an outstanding guidebook for managers to follow in order to reap the most significant benefits from activity based costing and other cost management techniques. The great merit of this book is that it does not preach to the reader the latest management fad, but rather goes through a thorough analysis of budgeting processes, highlighting benefits and drawbacks of each. They do not claim ABC is the best approach, and even praise some simpler methods that are more adequate for certain companies. Instead, they point to the circumstances in which ABC can provide outstanding results to companies.

The book structured first with an analysis of the most often used systems of managerial cost accounting. It highlights the shortcomings of these, proceeding then to present certain productivity improvements that could contribute to performance. These are mostly related to the quality movements (TQM, 6 Sigma, etc), which are presented in a very understandable way. These are complements to the existing usual cost management systems. These improvements can be made even without implementing ABC systems.

Then the authors proceed to describe activity based costing and its benefits in terms of choosing customers, suppliers, and product breadth. They present many examples that would be very relevant to any practitioner, in industry or service. There is a specific section focusing on services, which makes the appropriate adaptations to the systems for the peculiarities of it.

Overall, an outstanding work, to help anyone involved in cost management, whether they are interested in activity based costing or more traditional standard costing methods.

The very best book on activity-based management.
I have read this book cover to cover and have re-read chapters. Kaplan ensures that you grasp the fundamental concepts by keeping things simple. He illustrates the concepts with easy to understand examples. I gained very little knowledge from the first 3 ABM books I read, but after reading "Cost and Effect," I felt that I had a good enough grasp of the fundamentals to actually implement a costing system.

Cooper and Kaplan: my heroes
After reading several academic papers concerning activity based costing I still wasn't convinced about the usefullness of the methodology. After reading Cost & Effect I revised my opinion on Cost Management. This book gives all the answers to effective Cost Management. It takes you from the ABC Age to the Activity Based Management Age and clearly helps you to understand what costs are alle about. Once you really understand the topics of this book you will be able to face and manage costs in whatever business you are in. Read it!

Evolving Toward Better Financial Information and Actions!
Cost & Effect will most appeal to those who have had extended experience with Activity-Based Costing (ABC) or operate in manufacturing industries.

If you are interested in learning more about Activity-Based Costing, this book is not the best choice for you. Professor Kaplan has co-authored books that explore this subject in much greater detail.

Most people set as their initial priority the need to have accurate financial reporting for the entire enterprise. Falling below that level of effectiveness is Stage I in the terms of this book. Once you have that financial reporting done accurately, you are at Stage II. But you know almost nothing about how to manage your costs better. In order to do that, you will need to establish ad hoc financial reporting processes designed to help your organization learn from its experience and identify opportunities for improvement, built around Activity-Based Costing (ABC). ABC is simply a way of more accurately applying overhead costs back to activities and then processes that permits accurately understanding more about which combinations of products and services and customers are profitable and which are not. Then, within each activity, you can also see the inefficiencies in what you are doing that present opportunities for improvement. The book also has a nice discussion of Kaizen costing that is widely used in Japanese companies looking for on-going cost improvements, based on Professor Cooper's research. There are a few case histories to illustrate the principles, but most will find these insufficient to guide them through the process. In other books, Professor Kaplan has pointed out that there is a lot of acquired art in the subject and you probably need help to get it right. I concur. Once you have ABC operating in stand-alone systems, you are at Stage III.

At this point, you will have a financial reporting system that is separate from the ABC system. How do you put them together? That the subject of chapter 14, which is the key value-added part of this book. You will see what the systems architecture and process flow needs to be in order to combine ABC with Enterprise-Wide Systems (EWS) of the sort that many large companies have invested in during recent years. Putting the two together will greatly improve planning, budgeting, design of new products and services, and operational improvements. Chapter 15 expands into the area of how to apply the combined system to budgeting and transfer pricing. Combing ABC and EWS puts you at Stage IV, a level rarely reached today.

The book's main message is that it's a mistake to try to go from Stage II directly to Stage IV. There's a lot of experimentation and mistakes that you can benefit from in an extended Stage III. I agree again, based on my experience with ABC.

The one caution you should have about ABC in this context is that if you are going to radically change your business model every 2-5 years as many companies are, Stage IV is probably unattainable and undesirable. You can't hold back business model innovation for better cost systems. The next business model innovation will probably give you better costs than tweaking the current business model with ABC will.

Seek out the fastest route to progress, and do more of it!

The book I use every day!
I would like to have it in German and French languages in order to recommend it to my colleagues. ... Read more

Book Description

Principles of Financial Accounting offers balanced, flexible content supported by an array of truly integrated print and technology supplements. Whether an instructor wants to present a user or procedural orientation, incorporate new instructional strategies, develop students' core skills and competencies, or integrate technology into the classroom, the 2002e edition provides a total solution.

This text—intended for use in a single semester or one-quarter course—assumes no previous training in accounting or business and is appropriate for both majors and non-majors. Principles of Financial Accounting is designed for financial accounting programs that prefer to start with a sole proprietorship approach and move at a slower pace than a corporate financial accounting course.

Book Description

This soft-cover booklet is filled with columnar paper for each Problem in the textbook. Students encounter Checkpoints throughout the working papers to ensure they are on the right track ... Read more