Accounting Made Simple: Accounting Explained in 100 Pages or Less (Financial Topics in 100 Pages or Less) Kindle Edition

As an academic turned entrepreneur, I needed a quick and systematic introduction to accounting concepts. I've bought many books, but so far Piper's has been the clearest of them all. (Not to mention the shortest, another quality that most academic books painfully lack!) Its strength is that it provides clear definitions and explanations that assume no prior knowledge of accounting or finance. One example from page 2: "At its most fundamental level, accounting is the system of tracking the income, expenses, assets and debts of a business." Using these simple but not dumbed-down explanations, the reader quickly develops a good understanding of accounting as a whole. I feel I can now integrate more advanced concepts and methods into this general framework.The book is divided into two main sections with respectively 6 and 8 chapters.Part One ["Financial Statements"]:* introduces the basic accounting equation ("Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity");* defines "retained earnings";* explains the three types of financial statements that a company needs to produce (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement);* teaches you how to use these statements to calculate a company's liquidity (ability to repay debts), profitability, leverage (reliance on debt), and inventory turnover.Part Two ["General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)"] explains:* why all public companies have to use the same accounting principles (called GAAP);* the notions of debit and credit used in bookkeeping;* the difference between "cash accounting" and "accrual accounting";* how companies balance their books at the end of each accounting period;* other GAAP concepts like recording assets at their "historical cost", what transactions are "material" to the company's financial statements, etc.* depreciation and amortization;* how companies keep track of their inventory (LIFO method vs. FIFO method) and how they calculate the "Cost of Goods Sold."If you're not too sure what these concepts mean, this book is probably for you. Each chapter ends with a "Simple Summary" of the chapter's main points. Using these summaries, you can skim the entire book in a few minutes before delving into the chapter of your choice. Whenever Piper mentions a concept he hasn't explained yet, he refers you to the chapter where that concept is explained, so that you never lose thread. And if that's not user-friendly enough, he even offers a refund to readers who are not fully satisfied with the book!The index, an oft-neglected tool, is very thorough. As such, it is much more useful than the very basic index you find at the end of most finance and accounting books. It will prove invaluable to those who wish to study one particular concept more thoroughly. The notion of "Accounts Payable", for instance, is discussed mainly on pp. 12-14, but it is also mentioned on pages 24, 35, 51, 58, 67, and 83, something you wouldn't know from reading the table of contents or a less well-designed index.Finally, to make sure you've mastered all the concepts presented in the book, you can head to the author's blog (called "oblivious investor"; full link given in the book) and try to answer the practice questions. You'll be surprised at how quickly you become proficient at calculating a company's "debt to equity ratio" or its "inventory turnover"!All in all, an excellent little book and a solid stepping stone for learning more complex accounting.

Accounting is one of those fields that's pretty easy once you get a solid grasp of the basic concepts and principles, but where that's easier said than done because said concepts and principles can be very counter-intuitive at times. I have ADHD and struggled a lot with trying to learn from big, wordy textbooks. This book does what it promises to do -- it teaches you the basic concepts in plain, understandable, ELI5 English. It's short and to the point, and breaks down each concept until it's simple and intuitive. There were certain concepts I hadn't fully grasped even after hours of study with other texts, which this text was able to break down fully within 5 minutes. It's awesome.Understanding something and being able to actually teach it are two very different things. A lot of experts aren't able to successfully manage the latter. This author does, and does so very effectively. Once you have a firm handle on the principles explained in this book, you'll have a much easier time with longer and more in-depth accounting texts. It's a great jumping-off point. Highly recommend.

When I read through the book at first it seemed good. Most of it is easy to understand. But I found issues when doing the sample problems the author posts on his website. For instance, in chapter 6 he asks the reader to calculate the current ratio and the quick ratio. Notes payable as a liability account can go into either current or long term liabilities, the author does not specify which. I found a few other troubles in the exercises. I would add a star if the author would straighten up the exercises, make them clear and more useful for the new accounting student.

I have thought for several years that I would be well suited to accounting as a career. I just started my first College Accounting class. I read “Accounting Made Simple” in the few weeks leading up to my class. It is packed full of useful information in a way that is easy to understand. Now that I’m a few chapters into my college course, I’m so grateful that I read this book first. I feel like I have a leg up and am able to get a deeper understanding of my class work since I’ve already been introduced to these concepts.

Working in accounting as a day job and tutor on the side, this book is an amazing quick reference to the essentials of accounting. I can't speak for those that are not familiar with the topic, but I find this book to be an incredible asset and would recommend anyone pursuing any education in accounting to utilize this resource. These are the direct notes necessary to succeed in most aspects of accounting.

I was laid off earlier this year, and have been trying to use my spare time to 'pad my resume' a little with new skill sets (taking classes on Excel and Quickbooks and so on), as well as looking into possible degrees that might be worth going back to school for. This book seemed like a short, no-frills introduction to the fundamentals of accounting.This is an excellent book to look into if you are a complete accounting novice or just want to quickly review the basics of that one accounting class you took 10 years ago. The examples given can sometimes be a little difficult to follow along with, unless you are someone who is nerdy with numbers (or fiscally fascinated like I am...I have an inner Scrooge McDuck), but there isn't anything in this book that is overly-difficult to grasp, and anything that is a little difficult can easily be explained with a short Google search.I have added a couple of photos to this review. The first one (if I do this right) should show the book and my deck of flash cards from the front. If you view it from the side, you'll see there is a ridiculous amount of flash cards for this book. I wanted to show this to illustrate how informative this book is, and that frankly, the information is so plainly and easily written out that you can even create flash cards for review.

Like a aid memoir.

OK as a memory jerker for my use

The life saver for first year degree course students on Business BA degree work.......easy to understand and encouraging as not"Not foggy'

It help you to understand Basic accounting skills and knowledge.

easy to read, soft and nice for new starters, a refresher for those who want to make a review