Financial Accounting: A New
Perspective embodies an approach to teaching that has been developed by author Paul
Solomon for over 30 years. The perspective is student-centered in that it motivates
students by truly acknowledging them as business majors first-by taking them out of the
preparer mode yet still emphasizing how they cannot be successful in business without
accounting. Solomon begins not by talking about business and accounting in the abstract,
but by introducing a realistic, concrete business case that students can count on
throughout the book as a controlled environment in which to learn new concepts.
Solomon's text presents
principles of financial accounting through a framework using the entrepreneurial running
case, Cards and Memoribilia Unlimited, which is fully integrated throughout the text. This
case engages the student while exposing them to the use of financial accounting statements
and information in developing a new business and their role in business decision making.
Early on in the book, corporate financial statements are introduced along side those of
CMU. Solomon covers debits and credits but delays their presentation until chapter
9--which may well prove to be preferable to skipping them altogether. Students are more
prepared to cover debits and credits later in the course and professors are able to at
least introduce these important concepts to their business and accounting majors.
Features
Financial Accounting: A New
Perspective uses a "spiral" approach to teaching that introduces concepts to
students as they are ready for them. More importantly, it doesn't require them to master
concepts in one presentation. Instead, students have two or more opportunities to refine
their understanding of particular concepts. For example, early in the text students are
presented with overviews of not only the balance sheet and income statement but also the
statement of cash flows. These statements are revisited again and again in the text
allowing them to see the effects of transactions.
The text has an intuitive
organization by presenting the three business activities of financing, investing, and
operating rather than a daunting list of balance sheet accounts.
Debits and Credits are
deferred until chapter 9 and then can be introduced to students and used in later chapters
if the instructor so desires. If the instructor prefers to not teach them at all they can
continue to concentrate on the transaction analysis as they have in the preceding
chapters.
Cards & Memorabilia
Unlimited (CMU) is a running case introduced at the beginning of Chapter One and is
integrated throughout. This case captures and maintains students interest as they discover
the purpose and function of basic accounting concepts. The case focuses on Susan Newman
and her developing business. Along the way, students are introduced to relevant accounting
tools, including ratios, debits and credits, and financial statements, that Susan will use
in her business. Students can understand why they are learning the material and how it is
relevant to the world of business. After Chapter One, the CMU icon appears in the text's
margins to signal when the case is being used so students can easily follow along.
Solomon presents financial
information for both small businesses as well as large corporations. While students are
able to identify with the running case as it presents the business transactions critical
to an entrepreneurial start-up, they are given compare and contrast examples of how
corporations report their financial information. By consistently juxtaposing the two,
students become comfortable with how the effects of essential business transactions and
activities are transformed into the information found on corporate financial statements.
Ratio Analysis is integrated
throughout the text so that the students continue to be familiar with ratio analysis
instead of just seeing it all at one time in the text.
Managerial, International,
Ethics and Internet oriented issues are integrated into the text--not placed into boxes.
Students often see text boxes as irrelevant material to be skipped. In the real world,
managerial concerns, international accounting, ethics and the Internet are not issues that
can be ignored or pushed aside. In Solomon they are similarly built into the narrative and
highlighted in such a way that students and professors will immediately understand the
relevance and currency of theses important topics.
Integration of actual
information from real Annual Reports to illustrate accounting concepts helps the students
know what to expect from 'real world' information and reinforces the importance of being
able to read and interpret the information in financial statements.
Very student-friendly
writing style engages the student and increases their desire to continue reading on in the
text while making them feel successful in their understanding of the material at hand.
End-of-chapter material is
tied to chapter Performance Objectives so that students are able to see where their
knowledge is applied. Icons indicate to which objective a problem is tied and on what text
page that specific objective was first presented. End-of-chapter material also includes a
Summary with Key Terms, "Making Business Decisions" questions, Short Answer
Questions, Reinforcement Exercises, Critical Thinking Problems, Excel Spreadsheet
Assignments, Research Assignments, and Internet Assignments.
Each text includes Free
access to NetTutor and PowerWeb for financial accounting.
Features
Online Learning Center with
PowerWeb (OLC) is a website that follows the text chapter-by-chapter with digital
supplementary content germane to the book. As students read the book, they can go online
to take self-grading quizzes, review material, and work through interactive exercises.
Thanks to embedded PowerWeb content, students can get quicker access to real-world news
and essays that pertain to the discipline their studying. OLCs can be delivered multiple
ways--through the textbook website, through PageOut, or within a course management system
(i.e., WebCT or Blackboard).
McGraw-Hill's Knowledge
Gateway--The Complete Resource for Teaching Online Courses. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, in
partnership with Eduprise, is proud to bring this unique service to instructors. This
comprehensive Website contains a wealth of information for any professor interested in
teaching online. Level one is available to any instructor browsing our Website. Level two
is reserved for McGraw-Hill customers and contains access to free technical and
instructional design assistance. For more details, visit http://mhhe.eduprise.com/home.nsf
PageOut is McGraw-Hill's
unique point-and click course Website tool, enabling you to create a full-featured,
professional quality course Website without knowing HTML coding. With PageOut you can post
your syllabus online, assign McGraw-Hill Online Learning Center or eBook content, add
links to important off-site resources, and maintain student results in the online grade
book. You can send class announcements, copy your course site to share with colleagues,
and upload original files. PageOut is free for every McGraw-Hill/Irwin user and, if you're
short on time, we even have a team ready to help you create your site!
PowerWeb. This online
reservoir of discipline-specific news articles and essays offer a great way to keep your
course current, while complementing textbook concepts with real-world applications.
Articles and essays from leading periodicals and niche publications in specific
disciplines are reviewed by professors like you to ensure fruitful search results every
time. PowerWeb also offers current news, weekly updates with assessment, interactive
exercises, Web research guide, study tips, and much more! http://www.dushkin.com/powerweb.
Table of Contents Chapter 1-
Introduction to a Business: Cards & Memorabilia Unlimited
- Appendix 1-1 Cards &
Memorabilia Unlimited
- Chapter 2--Analyzing the
Transactions of a Business
- Chapter 3--Financial
Statements and Their Relationships
- Chapter 4--The Balance Sheet
- Chapter 5--Using the Balance
Sheet to Make Decisions
- Chapter 6--The Income
Statement
- Chapter 7--Using the Income
Statement to Make Decisions
- Chapter 8--The Statement of
Cash Flows
- Chapter 9--The Accounting
Process: Manual and Computerized Systems
- Appendix 9-1 Learning How to
Use T-Account Analysis
- Chapter 10--Comparing
Financial Statements by Entity and Industry
- Appendix 10-1 Learning How
to Read Consolidated Financial Statements
- Chapter 11--How Operating
Activities Affect Financial Statements
- Chapter 12--How Investing
Activities Affect Financial Statements
- Appendix 12-1 Mastering
Compound Interest Concepts (With Tables)
- Chapter 13--How Financing
Activities Affect Financial Statements
- Appendix 13-1 Measuring and
Reporting Leases
- Appendix 13-2 Accounting for
Deferred Income Taxes
- Chapter 14--Applying What
You Have Learned To Analyze the Gap
- Appendix 14-1 2001 Financial
Information for the Gap, Inc. and for The Limited, Inc.
- Appendix 14-3 Creating a
Statement of Cash Flows
- Appendix A Performance
Objectives
- Appendix B Commonly Used
Account Titles
- Appendix C Transactions A 1
through Z for Cards & Memorabilia Unlimited
780 pages