Author Description

This book is designed primarily for the following: middle and junior management who deal with financial information without really understanding the content; students who are studying accounting as a non-specialist subject, for example on a business studies or engineering course. The book will serve as a basic reference to be used throughout the course. It will also be particularly helpful in providing the basic grounding that is required before moving on to the more technical and in-depth study of the subject that may be required on some courses. Students who are embarking on a course of study to become a professional accountant will also find this book of major benefit. The basic understanding developed in this book will serve as a valuable base on which to build future professional studies. The book is suitable for those in the accounts of profit-making organisations or not-for-profit organisations. It also gives equal weight to manufacturing and service organisations. The book is divided into three parts: Part 1 explains the scope of the book, who it is for, and how to use it effectively. Part 2 begins with a review of the types of people who might use accounting statements and the sort of information that they might need. It then introduces and reviews the main financial accounting statements: the profit and loss account (or income and expenditure account in not-for-profit organisations), the balance sheet and the cash flow statement. The final chapters of this section explain the basic techniques used to interpret the information contained within these financial statements. Part 3 covers management accounting and the use of financial information to mange a business. It reviews the analysis and build-up of cost before going on to demonstrate the use of costs in management decision-making. This section concludes with a discussion of the use of budgetary planning and control. The final section of the book contains a glossary of the m