E-Book Overview
The Accounting Picture Book teaches accounting based on diagrams of the conceptual structure of accounting. These are the definitive accounting diagrams.
Part 2 is the second volume of the book. It focuses on the hardest intermediate-level topics where diagrams are most needed. These are topics that can seem incomprehensible in standard textbooks. The diagrams in this book display the structures and their mechanics, so you’ll understand the concepts.
Part 2 offers conceptual and practical proficiency in major topics in under one hundred pages.
Contents of Part 2: Intermediate Accounting:
1. Bonds
2. Leases
3. Pensions
4. Corporate Income Taxes
5. Long-Term Contracts
97 pages
Part 1 is prerequisite to Part 2.
Written and illustrated by Michael Fitzgerald. Michael received his Master of Science in Accounting degree from University of Connecticut.
E-Book Content
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Copyright © 2018 by Michael Fitzgerald. All rights reserved. Previous © 2011.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.
The information contained within this eBook is strictly for educational purposes. If you wish to apply concepts or techniques contained in this eBook, you are taking full responsibility for your actions. The information contained in this eBook is based on American accounting standards in 2018. Accounting standards change frequently. Consult a Certified Public Accountant before making any accounting or tax decisions.
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Michael Fitzgerald received his Master of Science in Accounting degree from University of Connecticut.
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What is this book?
A physics professor once told me, “When you sit down to a problem, the first thing to do is draw a picture.” The question is, what to draw? Quantitative problems are not just number soups; they contain underlying relationships. The ideal picture is a display of those relationships, which allows you to see the structure of the problem instead of a bunch of numbers. There are two main advantages of pictures over text in education: (1) When learning a concept, your eyes take in relationships more efficiently from a picture; and (2) Once you understand the concept, you can operate your mental picture like a machine to solve problems. That’s why diagrams are routinely provided in physics and math books. Many accounting students study textbooks for months, memorizing and forgetting lots of information while having little understanding. What they’re missing is the right picture. When I first sat down to study accounting, the first thing I looked for was a diagram of the fundamental relationships; after scouring the literature, I found the landscape totally void of life! The structure of accounting is simple to display visually. While other books use a word soup to describe a number soup, this book shows you the picture. The Accounting Picture Book is essentially a diagram-based version of a typical accounting textbook. It aims to deliver higher comprehension than similar textbooks do, in fewer words, due to the advantages of pictures. The learning experience is different: it’s like playing with building blocks in your mind, versus memorizing an encyclopedia. The result is conceptual mastery of basic accounting. This is not a new system of accounting, but a simple way to visualize the common system. The Accounting Picture Book is divided into two parts, Part 1: Introductory and Part 2: Intermediate. Part 1 provides a practical study of basic financial accounting. Part 2 covers a number of intermediate-level topics. For the topics presented, the intention is not to cover every detail, but to convey the concepts more effe