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Accounting For Dummies, 4th edition

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Table of Contents

 

Introduction..................................................................

1

About This Book...............................................................................................

1

Conventions Used in This Book .....................................................................

2

What You’re Not To Read ................................................................................

4

Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................

5

How This Book Is Organized...........................................................................

6

Part I: Opening the Books on Accounting ...........................................

6

Part II: Figuring Out Financial Statements...........................................

7

Part III: Accounting in Managing a Business .......................................

7

Part IV: Preparing and Using Financial Reports .................................

8

Part V: The Part of Tens.........................................................................

8

Glossary...................................................................................................

8

Icons Used in This Book..................................................................................

9

Where to Go from Here....................................................................................

9

Part I: Opening the Books on Accounting ......................

11

Chapter 1: Accounting: The Language of Business,

 

Investing, Finance, and Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.13

Accounting Is Not Just for Accountants......................................................

14

Affecting both insiders and outsiders ...............................................

14

Overcoming the stereotypes of accountants....................................

15

Relating accounting to your personal financial life .........................

16

Looking for Accounting in All the Right Places..........................................

17

Taking a Peek into the Back Office...............................................................

18

Focusing on Transactions .............................................................................

21

Taking the Pulse of a Business: Financial Statements ...............................

23

Meeting the balance sheet and the accounting equation ...............

24

Reporting profit and loss, and cash flows.........................................

25

Respecting the importance of this trio..............................................

26

Considering Accounting Careers .................................................................

27

Certified public accountant (CPA) .....................................................

27

The controller: The chief accountant in an organization................

28

A springboard to other careers ..........................................................

29

xii

Accounting For Dummies, 4th Edition

Chapter 2: Financial Statements and Accounting Standards . . . . .

. .31

Introducing the Information Content of Financial Statements.................

32

Setting up the business example........................................................

32

The income statement .........................................................................

33

The balance sheet ................................................................................

35

The statement of cash flows ...............................................................

37

How Profit and Cash Flow from Profit Differ ..............................................

40

Gleaning Key Information from Financial Statements ...............................

41

How’s profit performance?..................................................................

41

Is there enough cash? ..........................................................................

42

Can you trust the financial statement numbers?

 

Are the books cooked?.....................................................................

43

Why no cash distribution from profit? ..............................................

44

Keeping in Step with Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards....

45

Recognizing U.S. standards .................................................................

45

Getting to know the U.S. standard setters ........................................

47

Going worldwide...................................................................................

48

Noting a divide between public and private companies.................

49

Recognizing how income tax methods influence

 

accounting methods.........................................................................

50

Following the rules and bending the rules........................................

51

Chapter 3: Bookkeeping and Accounting Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.53

Bookkeeping and Beyond..............................................................................

54

Pedaling Through the Bookkeeping Cycle ..................................................

54

Managing the Bookkeeping and Accounting System.................................

59

Categorize your financial information: The chart of accounts.......

59

Standardize source document forms and procedures ....................

61

Hire competent, trained personnel....................................................

62

Enforce strong — I mean strong! — internal controls .....................

63

Complete the process with end-of-period procedures....................

65

Leave good audit trails ........................................................................

66

Look out for unusual events and developments ..............................

66

Design truly useful reports for managers .........................................

67

Double-Entry Accounting for Single-Entry Folks........................................

68

Juggling the Books to Conceal Embezzlement and Fraud ........................

70

Using Accounting Software ...........................................................................

72

Part II: Figuring Out Financial Statements....................

75

Chapter 4: Reporting Revenue, Expenses, and the Bottom Line . . . .

.77

Presenting a Typical Income Statement......................................................

78

Taking care of some housekeeping details .......................................

79

Your job: Asking questions!.................................................................

81

Finding Profit ..................................................................................................

84

 

Table of Contents

xiii

 

Getting Particular about Assets and Liabilities..........................................

86

 

Making sales on credit Accounts receivable asset......................

86

 

Selling products Inventory asset ...................................................

87

 

Prepaying operating costs Prepaid expense asset......................

87

 

Fixed assets Depreciation expense ...............................................

88

 

Unpaid expenses Accounts payable, accrued expenses

 

 

payable, and income tax payable ..................................................

89

 

Summing Up the Financial Effects of Profit.................................................

91

 

Reporting Extraordinary Gains and Losses................................................

92

 

Closing Comments .........................................................................................

95

 

Chapter 5: Reporting Assets, Liabilities, and Owners’ Equity . . . . . .

.97

 

Understanding That Transactions Drive the Balance Sheet.....................

98

 

Presenting a Balance Sheet.........................................................................

100

 

Kicking balance sheets out into the real world ..............................

102

 

Internal balance sheets............................................................

103

 

External balance sheets ...........................................................

103

 

Judging solvency ................................................................................

103

 

Current (short-term) assets ....................................................

104

 

Current (short-term) liabilities ...............................................

104

 

Current ratio..............................................................................

105

 

Preparing multiyear statements .......................................................

105

 

Coupling the Income Statement and Balance Sheet ................................

106

 

Sizing up assets and liabilities ..........................................................

108

 

Sales revenue and accounts receivable...........................................

109

 

Cost of goods sold expense and inventory.....................................

109

 

Fixed assets and depreciation expense...........................................

110

 

SG&A expenses and their three balance sheet accounts..............

111

 

Intangible assets and amortization expense ..................................

112

 

Debt and interest expense ................................................................

113

 

Income tax expense and income tax payable .................................

114

 

Net income and cash dividends (if any)..........................................

114

 

Financing a Business....................................................................................

115

 

Costs and Other Balance Sheet Values......................................................

117

 

Chapter 6: Reporting Cash Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

119

 

Seeing the Big Picture of Cash Flows.........................................................

119

 

Meeting the Statement of Cash Flows .......................................................

122

 

Dissecting the Difference Between Cash Flow and Net Income .............

125

 

Accounts receivable change .............................................................

126

 

Inventory change................................................................................

127

 

Prepaid expenses change..................................................................

127

 

The depreciation factor.....................................................................

128

 

Changes in operating liabilities ........................................................

129

 

Putting the cash flow pieces together .............................................

130

 

xiv

Accounting For Dummies, 4th Edition

Sailing Through the Rest of the Statement of Cash Flows ......................

131

Investing activities .............................................................................

131

Financing activities ............................................................................

132

Trying to Pin Down “Free Cash Flow”........................................................

134

Being an Active Reader ...............................................................................

135

Chapter 7: Choosing Accounting Methods:

 

Different Strokes for Different Folks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .137

Reading Statements with a Touch of Skepticism .....................................

138

Recognizing a business’s bias...........................................................

138

Contrasting aggressive and conservative numbers.......................

139

Figuring Out Why Financial Statements Differ .........................................

141

Cash balance .......................................................................................

142

Accounts receivable balance ............................................................

143

Inventory and cost of goods sold expense .....................................

144

Cost of fixed assets, accumulated depreciation,

 

and depreciation expense .............................................................

145

Accrued expenses payable liability balance...................................

146

Wrapping things up............................................................................

147

Calculating Cost of Goods Sold and Cost of Inventory ...........................

148

The FIFO (first-in, first-out) method.................................................

149

The LIFO (last-in, first-out) method .................................................

150

The average cost method..................................................................

152

Recording Inventory Losses under the Lower of Cost

 

or Market (LCM) Rule ..............................................................................

153

Appreciating Depreciation Methods..........................................................

154

Scanning the Expense Horizon...................................................................

156

Part III: Accounting in Managing a Business...............

159

Chapter 8: Deciding the Legal Structure for a Business . . . . . . . .

. .161

Studying the Sources of Business Capital.................................................

162

Deciding on debt ................................................................................

162

Tapping two sources of owners’ equity...........................................

163

Recognizing the Legal Roots of Business Entities ...................................

165

Incorporating a Business ............................................................................

165

Issuing stock shares...........................................................................

166

Offering different classes of stock shares .......................................

167

Determining the market value of stock shares...............................

169

Keeping alert for dilution of share value.........................................

170

Recognizing conflicts between stockholders and managers........

172

Considering Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies..................

173

Going It Alone: Sole Proprietorships .........................................................

176

 

Table of Contents

xv

 

Choosing the Right Legal Structure for Income Tax ................................

178

 

C corporations ....................................................................................

179

 

S corporations ....................................................................................

180

 

Partnerships and LLCs ......................................................................

181

 

Chapter 9: Analyzing and Managing Profit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.183

 

Helping Managers Do Their Jobs ...............................................................

184

 

Following the organizational structure............................................

184

 

Centering on profit centers ...............................................................

185

 

Presenting a P&L Template.........................................................................

186

 

Reporting operating expenses on the object

 

 

of expenditure basis .......................................................................

187

 

Reporting operating expenses on their cost behavior basis........

187

 

Separating variable and fixed expenses ..........................................

189

 

Variable expenses .....................................................................

189

 

Fixed expenses..........................................................................

190

 

Stopping at operating earnings ........................................................

191

 

Focusing on margin — the catalyst of profit...................................

192

 

Answering Two Critical Profit Questions ..................................................

192

 

How did you make profit? .................................................................

192

 

How did you increase profit? ............................................................

194

 

Looking More Closely at the Profit Center P&L Report ..........................

195

 

Sales volume .......................................................................................

195

 

Sales revenue ......................................................................................

195

 

Cost of goods sold..............................................................................

196

 

Variable operating expenses.............................................................

196

 

Fixed operating expenses..................................................................

197

 

Using the P&L Template for Decision-Making Analysis...........................

198

 

Tucking Away Some Valuable Lessons ......................................................

199

 

Recognize the leverage effect caused by fixed

 

 

operating expenses ........................................................................

199

 

Don’t underestimate the impact of small

 

 

changes in sales price ....................................................................

200

 

Know your options for improving profit .........................................

201

 

Closing with a Boozy Example....................................................................

202

 

Chapter 10: Financial Planning, Budgeting, and Control . . . . . . . . . .

205

 

Exploring the Reasons for Budgeting ........................................................

206

 

Modeling reasons for budgeting.......................................................

207

 

Planning reasons for budgeting........................................................

208

 

Management control reasons for budgeting...................................

209

 

Additional benefits of budgeting, and a note of caution ...............

210

 

xvi

Accounting For Dummies, 4th Edition

Realizing That Not Everyone Budgets.......................................................

212

Avoiding budgeting ............................................................................

212

Relying on internal accounting reports...........................................

213

Making reports useful for management control ...................

213

Making reports useful for decision-making ...........................

213

Making reports clear and straightforward ............................

214

Watching Budgeting in Action ....................................................................

214

Developing your profit strategy and budgeted profit report........

216

Budgeting cash flow for the coming year........................................

218

Considering Capital Expenditures and Other Cash Needs .....................

220

Chapter 11: Cost Concepts and Conundrums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .223

Looking down the Road to the Destination of Costs ...............................

224

Are Costs Really That Important? ..............................................................

225

Becoming More Familiar with Costs..........................................................

226

Direct versus indirect costs ..............................................................

228

Fixed versus variable costs...............................................................

229

Relevant versus irrelevant costs ......................................................

229

Actual, budgeted, and standard costs .............................................

230

Product versus period costs.............................................................

231

Assembling the Product Cost of Manufacturers ......................................

232

Minding manufacturing costs ...........................................................

232

Classifying costs properly.................................................................

234

Calculating product cost ...................................................................

236

Examining fixed manufacturing costs and production capacity......

237

The burden rate ........................................................................

237

Idle capacity ..............................................................................

238

The effects of increasing inventory........................................

238

Puffing Profit by Excessive Production .....................................................

240

Shifting fixed manufacturing costs to the future............................

240

Cranking up production output........................................................

241

Being careful when production output is out

 

of kilter with sales volume.............................................................

243

Part IV: Preparing and Using Financial Reports...........

245

Chapter 12: Getting a Financial Report Ready for Release . . . . . .

. .247

Recognizing Management’s Role................................................................

248

Keeping in Mind the Purpose of Financial Reporting..............................

249

Staying on Top of Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards .......

250

Making Sure Disclosure Is Adequate .........................................................

251

Footnotes: Nettlesome but needed ..................................................

252

Other disclosures in financial reports.............................................

254

 

Table of Contents

xvii

 

Putting a Spin on the Numbers (But Not Cooking the Books) ...............

256

 

Window dressing for fluffing up the cash balance .........................

257

 

Sanding the rough edges off profit ...................................................

258

 

The pressure on public companies ........................................

259

 

Compensatory effects ..............................................................

259

 

Two profit histories ..................................................................

260

 

Management discretion in the timing

 

 

of revenue and expenses......................................................

261

 

Going Public or Keeping Things Private ...................................................

263

 

Reports from publicly owned companies .......................................

263

 

Reports from private businesses .....................................................

264

 

Dealing with Information Overload............................................................

265

 

Browsing based on your interests....................................................

265

 

Recognizing condensed versions .....................................................

266

 

Using other sources of business information.................................

267

 

Statement of Changes in Owners’ Equity..................................................

267

 

Chapter 13: How Lenders and Investors Read a Financial Report . . . .

271

 

Knowing the Rules of the Game .................................................................

272

 

Becoming a More Savvy Investor...............................................................

273

 

Comparing Private and Public Business Financial Reports....................

274

 

Analyzing Financial Statements with Ratios.............................................

276

 

Gross margin ratio..............................................................................

278

 

Profit ratio ...........................................................................................

280

 

Earnings per share (EPS), basic and diluted...................................

280

 

Price/earnings (P/E) ratio .................................................................

282

 

Dividend yield .....................................................................................

283

 

Book value and book value per share..............................................

284

 

Return on equity (ROE) ratio............................................................

286

 

Current ratio .......................................................................................

287

 

Acid-test ratio .....................................................................................

287

 

Return on assets (ROA) ratio and financial leverage gain ............

288

 

Frolicking Through the Footnotes .............................................................

289

 

Checking for Ominous Skies in the Auditor’s Report ..............................

291

 

Chapter 14: How Business Managers Use a Financial Report . . . . .

293

 

Building on the Foundation of the External Financial Statements ........

294

 

Seeking out problems and opportunities........................................

294

 

Avoiding information overload.........................................................

294

 

Gathering Financial Condition Information ..............................................

295

 

Cash......................................................................................................

296

 

Accounts receivable...........................................................................

297

 

Inventory .............................................................................................

298

 

Prepaid expenses ...............................................................................

298

 

Fixed assets and accumulated depreciation...................................

299

 

xviii Accounting For Dummies, 4th Edition

Accounts payable ...............................................................................

300

Accrued expenses payable ...............................................................

300

Income tax payable ............................................................................

301

Interest-bearing debt..........................................................................

302

Owners’ equity....................................................................................

303

Culling Profit Information............................................................................

303

Margin: The catalyst of profit ...........................................................

304

Sales revenue and expenses .............................................................

305

Digging into Cash Flow Information...........................................................

306

Distinguishing investing and financing cash flows

 

from operating cash flows .............................................................

307

Managing operating cash flows ........................................................

308

Chapter 15: Audits and Accounting Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .311

Exploring the Need for Audits ....................................................................

312

What’s in an Auditor’s Report ....................................................................

313

The clean (unqualified) opinion .......................................................

313

Other kinds of audit opinions ...........................................................

314

Who’s Who in the World of Audits.............................................................

315

Standing Firm When Companies Massage the Numbers, or Not ...........

316

Discovering Fraud, or Not...........................................................................

318

Who Audits the Auditors?...........................................................................

319

Part V: The Part of Tens .............................................

321

Chapter 16: Ten Accounting Tips for Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .323

Reach Break-Even, and Then Rake in Profit..............................................

323

Set Sales Prices Right...................................................................................

324

Distinguish Profit from Cash Flow .............................................................

325

Call the Shots on Accounting Policies.......................................................

326

Budget Wisely ...............................................................................................

327

Get the Accounting Information You Need ...............................................

328

Tap into Your CPA’s Expertise.....................................................................

329

Critically Review Your Fraud Controls ......................................................

329

Lend a Hand in Preparing Your Financial Reports...................................

330

Sound Like a Pro in Talking about Your Financial Statements ...............

331

Chapter 17: Ten Tips for Reading a Financial Report . . . . . . . . . . .

. .333

Get in the Right Frame of Mind ..................................................................

333

Decide What to Read ...................................................................................

335

Improve Your Accounting Savvy ................................................................

336

Judge Profit Performance............................................................................

336

 

Table of Contents

xix

 

Track Profit into Earnings per Share .........................................................

337

 

Confront Extraordinary Gains and Losses................................................

338

 

Compare Cash Flow and Profit ...................................................................

339

 

Look for Signs of Financial Distress...........................................................

340

 

Recognize the Risks of Restatement and Fraud .......................................

340

 

Remember the Limits of Financial Reports ..............................................

341

 

Glossary: Slashing Through the Accounting

 

 

Jargon Jungle............................................................

343

 

Index........................................................................

357

 

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