Includes index.

Introduction.Part I: A First Look at Accounting.Chapter 1: Strolling Through the Field of Accounting.Chapter 2: Getting to the Bottom of the Bottom Line.Chapter 3: Bookkeeping 101: From Shoeboxes to Computers.Chapter 4: Accounting and Your Personal Finances.Part II: Figuring Out Financial Statements.Chapter 5: Making and Reporting Profit.Chapter 6: The Genesis and Reporting of Financial Condition.Chapter 7: Cash Sources and Uses and Reporting Cash Flows.Chapter 8: Getting a Financial Report Ready.Part III: Accounting in Managing a Business.Chapter 9: First Things First: Deciding the Legal Structure.Chapter 10: Using Accounting for Managing Profit.Chapter 11: Budgeting Profit and Cash Flow.Chapter 12: Cost Concepts and Conundrums.Part IV: Financial Reports in the Public Domain.Chapter 13: Keeping Score: Choosing and Implementing Accounting Methods.Chapter 14: How Investors Read a Financial Report.Chapter 15: Audits, Accounting Fraud, and Audit Failures.Part V: The Part of Tens.Chapter 16: Ten Profit and Loss Questions.Chapter 17: Ten Ways Savvy Business Managers Use Accounting.Chapter 18: Ten Questions Savvy Investors Ask When Reading a Financial Report.Glossary: Slashing Through the Accounting Jargon Jungle.Index.

Whether you're a small business owner or just want to understand your 401(k) statements, a basic understanding of accounting practices is important for anyone who handles money. Knowing how to balance the books and stay in the black is vital for keeping a business afloat or keeping your checkbook balanced. If you need to keep the books in order, this new edition of Accounting For Dummies helps you get a handle on all those columns of numbers. It offers fully up-to-date coverage of accounting basics and includes all the tools and tips you need to: - Make sense of bookkeeping basics - Read a financial statement - Manage budgets for a better bottom line - Analyze business strengths and weaknesses - Evaluate accounting methods and business structures John Tracy, Certified Public Accountant and former professor of accounting, presents everything you need to know to master modern accounting. Packed with practical guidance and real-world scenarios, this handy guide covers it all: - Making and reporting profit - Reporting a company's financial condition - Preparing financial reports - Budgeting profit and cash flow - Choosing and implementing accounting methods - How to read a financial report - Audits, accounting fraud, and audit failure - How to decipher accounting jargon - And savvy ways businesses use accounting From balance sheets, to income statements, to inventory, almost every aspect of modern business requires basic accounting techniques. You'll learn it all here. Plus, this new edition covers the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, recent accounting fraud scandals, the establishment of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and the new financial reporting standards for stock options and financial derivatives.