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ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION American Accounting Association
Vol. 25, No. 1 DOI: 10.2308/iace.2010.25.1.176
2010
pp. 175–180

Book Reviews
Khondkar E. Karim, Editor
Editor’s Note: Books for review should be sent to Michael K. Shaub, Texas
A&M University, Department of Accounting, 485H Wehner Building, 4353
TAMU, College Station, TX 77843–4353.

The policy of Issues in Accounting Education is to publish only those reviews

solicited by the Book Reviews Editor. Unsolicited reviews will not be ac-
cepted.

TERRY D. WARFIELD, JERRY J. WEYGANT, and DONALD E. KIESO, Intermediate

Accounting: Principles and Analysis, Second Edition 共Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 2008, pp. xxx, 1079兲.
This text is the second edition of a streamlined version of the authors’ classic Intermediate
Accounting textbook. The authors state in the Preface that they developed this alternative to
address instructors’ requests for a text that would “关allow兴 more time to develop various profes-
sional competencies,” “place more emphasis on applying concepts,” and “help students cope with
the complexity and rigor” of intermediate accounting 共p. viii兲. Their approach was to make the text
shorter and use pedagogical features that encourage student engagement and application.
The most obvious streamlining is the use of only one chapter each instead of two for liabili-
ties, inventories, and property, plant, and equipment. There is a chapter on compensation, which
combines payroll, stock option, and pension topics. Earnings per share and accounting changes are
covered in one chapter. Within some chapters, more detailed topics or examples have been
dropped completely 共e.g., corridor approach for pensions兲, moved to an appendix 共e.g., effective
interest amortization兲, or moved to the website 共e.g., error analysis兲. The “Revenue Recognition”
chapter is early in the text, before the individual chapters on assets. The majority of the text’s
content matches content in the twelfth edition of the comprehensive text, so the streamlining came
primarily from editing out material rather than rewriting to present the contents in a different way.
The authors did not sacrifice end-of-chapter assignment material in their streamlining.
As in the comprehensive text, student engagement is promoted within each chapter by making
the text visually interesting 共using color, illustrations, and margin notes兲 and connecting the ac-
counting topic with the real world. “Beyond the Numbers” questions have been added to the
“What Do the Numbers Mean?” boxes in this edition, pushing students to critically consider some
aspect of the accounting. “Try It Out” exercises placed after selected material are also new. Both
of these features encourage active learning.
Students are often overwhelmed by the amount of detail in an intermediate accounting course.
If they make connections with underlying principles, they are more likely to understand and
remember the material. The use of a separate chapter on the FASB Conceptual Framework em-
phasizes the importance of understanding concepts as well as procedures. This text then facilitates

175
176 Book Reviews

the making of connections with “What’s the Principle?” margin notes in each chapter. At the end
of each chapter is a new review exercise called “Accounting, Analysis, Principles,” which not only
requires the students to review procedures, but also to consider how investors and creditors use the
information. It also requires them to connect the accounting with the underlying principles.
An excellent feature added to this edition is the “Convergence Corner.” It is a single page at
the end of each chapter which identifies international GAAP related to the chapter topics, com-
pares the international requirements with U.S. GAAP, and describes expected future develop-
ments. It works well as a quick introduction to the international GAAP that students will need to
know when they graduate. However, this leads to a significant issue for anyone considering
adopting this text—it was published in December 2007, so it is not as up-to-date as alternatives.
This limitation may be less significant than for a text that is designed to be comprehensive, but it
increases an instructor’s responsibility to identify changes and address them. Also, there is the
potential problem of students thinking the book is “old” when they see “expected future develop-
ments” being described as activities in 2009.
This text is well done and definitely deserves consideration by instructors who are disen-
chanted with the ever-increasing length and detail of most intermediate texts.
JANE E. CAMPBELL
Professor
Kennesaw State University

EARL R. WILSON, JACQUELINE L. RECK, and SUSAN C. KATTELUS, Accounting

for Governmental and Nonprofit Entities, Fifteenth Edition 共New York, NY: McGraw-
Hill/lrwin Co., 2010, pp. iii, 778兲.
The first edition of this textbook was published in 1951. Over the years, the book has become
a leading text in the specialized area of governmental and nonprofit accounting. The fifteenth
edition continues this longstanding tradition. While the textbook is written primarily for senior and
graduate accounting students, it is also useful for public administration students and students in
not-for-profit management education programs. The fifteenth edition features only minor changes.
In addition to a minor reorganization of coverage and changes necessitated by new authoritative
pronouncements, some items originally included in the body of the textbook have been moved to
the respective chapter appendices. One important feature that is unique to this text is the use of the
“Dual-Track” accounting approach. This approach is a carryover from earlier editions. It helps
students understand how financial data are recorded in the fund and government-wide journals as
transactions occur.
The textbook contains 17 chapters that are logically organized into three general parts: “State
and Local Governments,” “Accountability for Public Funds,” and “Not-For-Profit Organizations.”
This organization allows the instructor to assign only those chapters deemed appropriate for a
particular class. Chapter 1 discusses the unique characteristics of governmental and not-for-profit
organizations and provides the basic conceptual foundation for understanding the accounting and
financial reporting practices presented in subsequent chapters. Part 1 consists of Chapters 2
through 10 and is devoted exclusively to state and local government accounting and financial
reporting. Chapters 2 through 8 discuss governmental funds, business-type funds, and fiduciary
funds, while financial reporting by state and local governments and governmental financial per-
formance analysis are presented in Chapter 9 and Chapter 10, respectively. Part 2 covers federal
government accounting and reporting 共Chapter 11兲, auditing government and nonprofit organiza-
tions 共Chapter 12兲, and the use of budgets and performance measurements 共Chapter 13兲. Part 3
completes the textbook with coverage of accounting and financial reporting by not-for-profit

Issues in Accounting Education Volume 25, No. 1, 2010

American Accounting Association
Book Reviews 177

organizations. While Chapter 14 focuses on health and welfare organizations, Chapters 16 and 17
discuss college/university accounting and accounting for health care organizations. The authors
also include Chapter 15, which explains the regulatory, taxation, and performance issues in the
nonprofit sector. This chapter is unnecessary because the major topics could be incorporated into
Chapter 14.
The text has end-of-chapter exercises and problems sufficient in number and varying levels of
difficulty that are appropriate for a senior accounting course. While the textbook is accompanied
by the usual supporting materials, it also provides two computer simulation cases: City of Smith-
ville and City of Bingham. These simulations require students to record transactions into the
appropriate general journals and prepare the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The simu-
lations provide students with a true hands-on experience that enriches their overall learning expe-
rience. Students can also access PowerPoint lecture presentations, flashcards of key terms, and
multiple-choice practice quizzes for each chapter at the text’s web page.
In summary, this textbook is an excellent choice as the primary text for any one-semester
course in government and not-for-profit accounting. The authors do an excellent job of presenting
complex accounting and financial reporting procedures in an easy-to-read fashion, while still
preserving the necessary breadth and depth of coverage. The text also contains an appropriate
blending of conceptual and procedural discussions that enhance the usefulness of the book.
WALTER A. ROBBINS
Professor
The University of Alabama

GREGORY R. MOSTYN, Basic Accounting Concepts, Principles, and Procedures, Vol-

umes 1 and 2, First Edition 共Milpitas, CA: Worthy & James Publishing, 2007, Volume
1: pp. xviii, 671; Volume 2: pp. xx, 917兲.
Basic Accounting Concepts, Principles, and Procedures is a two-volume paperback set that
won the gold and silver medals in the 2008 Axiom Business Book awards. Each volume comes
with a CD containing solutions to exercises, a selection of working papers, and a comprehensive
math review. In addition, students and instructors can access the publisher’s practice/gradebook
system at no additional cost. This system has a database of about 2,500 questions.
Basic Accounting is quite unlike many financial accounting textbooks. Volume 1 has six
sections covering 31 learning goals, and Volume 2 has six sections with 30 learning goals. Volume
1 focuses on providing a strong conceptual foundation as it is specifically designed to address the
weakness in traditional texts where key foundation concepts are neglected or where beginning
students have particular difficulties. The book uses an interesting story of mythical gods and man
to help explain what a business is and how it can be represented by the accounting equation A ⫽
L ⫹ OE. Students will understand how business transactions affect each element of the equation,
and learn step-by-step how to transform these transactions into financial statements. Volume 1 also
reinforces the importance of ethics in accounting. Volume 2, called Applying Principles and
Procedures, starts off with adjusting entries and leads into the preparation of the complete work-
sheet and financial statements. It has two complete merchandising practice sets with solutions.
Students will also learn how periodic and perpetual inventory systems work, how to record/report/
control various assets and liabilities, how to do bank reconciliations, and how to analyze financial
statements. It also distinguishes the features of manual versus computerized accounting systems,
and provides a checklist for an accounting software purchase.

Issues in Accounting Education Volume 25, No. 1, 2010

American Accounting Association
178 Book Reviews

Basic Accounting is written in a simple clear manner for both slow and fast learners to follow.
A step-by-step building-block approach is used where one topic fluently builds to the next topic to
ensure an incremental learning approach. Students who have grasped the material are able to skip
to the next topic. On the other hand, students who are not ready for the current topic are directed
to review prior pages. There are many practice exercises and problems 共with detailed solutions兲
for each learning goal and for cumulative learning goals. From the publisher’s website, instructors
can set up practice quizzes. These are graded automatically, giving students prompt feedback.
Students can retake the practice quizzes with a set of similar questions. Students also can select
specific learning goals and create their own practice quizzes. The online practice quizzes are set up
with an option for students to see the detailed solutions to their wrong answers. The publisher’s
website has a full gradebook facility so that instructors may choose to manage their classes and
perform online assessments.
In summary, this two-volume set provides a very economical and complete first-course cov-
erage of corporate accounting. It is a good choice for someone who has never taught an accounting
class before, or who has taught a financial accounting class before but is unhappy with his or her
present text. The set is worth reviewing even if one is satisfied with their current text. It also can
be used as a supplement for intermediate accounting students who need remediation/review of the
key foundation concepts in financial accounting.
KIM B. TAN
Professor
California State University, Stanislaus

JAMIE PRATT, Financial Accounting in an Economic Context, Seventh Edition 共Hobo-

ken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009, pp. xvi, 792兲.
The seventh edition of this book has retained the distinguishing feature of the book from
previous editions’ economic decision-making approach and the emphasis that financial accounting
should be studied within the economic environment in which it operates. This edition also pro-
vides coverage of economic factors, measurement issues, and mechanics.
This edition has also retained many of the features from previous editions such as flexible
modules 共where the instructor has some flexibility about the order in which chapters are covered兲,
reverse t-account analysis, ethics vignettes, international coverage, industry data, and excerpts
from business publications. The present edition contains some coverage of international reporting
standards. There is a brief section at the end of each chapter that discusses international accounting
issues. This coverage is not comprehensive, however, and is not intended to familiarize students
with international reporting standards. The new edition also contains coverage of value creation
and the ROE model, capital flows, and implicit rates of return.
The book is written from a user perspective with the emphasis being on the use of financial
information by investors and creditors. However, there is a basic grounding in the mechanics of
accounting in Chapter 4, which covers the accounting cycle. The other chapters also cover the
mechanics of recording various transactions to an extent. However, the mechanics are covered
significantly less in this text than in comparable texts meant for introductory financial accounting
courses.
The Table of Contents of the book covers all of the standard topics in financial accounting
courses and is very similar to other texts used in financial accounting. However, the user approach
and emphasis on a decision-making approach is more predominant here than in other texts. The

Issues in Accounting Education Volume 25, No. 1, 2010

American Accounting Association
Book Reviews 179

book does not have the number of colorful illustrations and figures that are found in many
financial accounting texts; these may be unnecessary for many accounting students. The book does
explain topics well and the language is quite clear. However, it does not try to present each topic
by assuming the student is inept. The book is written at a level that is a little higher than many
financial accounting texts.
The 2006 annual report of Pepsico is included. The book also has chapter appendices on more
involved accounting topics such as Interest Rate Swaps and Hedging and Quality of Earnings
Cases.
The text does its job, presenting introductory financial accounting very well. The chapter
coverage includes all of the chapters covered in financial accounting. The text emphasizes a
user-oriented approach. Mechanics are presented but not given equal emphasis. The text is also
written at a level that is higher and more conceptual than an average comparable financial ac-
counting text. It is also suitable for an introductory M.B.A.-level course because of its emphasis
on decision making and the inclusion of more advanced topics, especially in the appendices. The
book should definitely be considered by accounting instructors who want to present financial
accounting to their students from a decision-oriented point of view and framed within the context
that accounting should be studied within the framework of the economy.
ANWAR Y. SALIMI
Professor
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

JERRY J. WEYGANDT, PAUL D. KIMMEL, and DONALD KIESO, Accounting Prin-

ciples, Ninth Edition 共Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009, pp. xxix, 1196兲.
Accounting Principles, Ninth Edition, is the latest in a series of books geared toward students
taking introductory accounting. This text consists of 26 chapters 共18 financial and eight manage-
rial兲. Overall, it is geared more toward financial accounting, as illustrated by the number of
chapters devoted to that area. The book’s introduction gives students unique and wonderful advice
on how to determine their learning styles and how to use the book to achieve their maximum
potential.
The book follows a traditional approach to introducing financial accounting to students. It
consists of the accounting equation, the rules of debit and credit, adjusting and closing entries, and
the worksheet approach to preparing financial statements. The chapter regarding inventory is
thorough, but the chapter regarding accounting information systems is outdated. The authors
should introduce the concept of Excel spreadsheets to students at this early stage so that they can
understand their importance in accounting and be prepared to learn in future classes. The mana-
gerial accounting chapters focus on manufacturing companies. At the end of each chapter, the
authors apply the concepts to students’ daily lives through the use of a clear example. Advanced
topics such as activity-based costing are discussed in appendices to provide extra study for the
exceptional student at this stage of accounting. Due to extra visual aids and illustrations, the
emphasis on journal entries is not as obvious in this edition compared to previous ones. Students
still learn all of the appropriate journal entries, but in a less intimidating manner.
End-of-chapter materials are extensive and consist of multiple-choice questions, discussion
questions, brief exercises, exercises, and problems. There are “continuing cases” for all of the
financial accounting chapters for those instructors who prefer this approach. One strength of this
book is the broad scope of additional problems at the end of each chapter related to ethics, critical
thinking, Internet assignments, and practical cases.

Issues in Accounting Education Volume 25, No. 1, 2010

American Accounting Association
 180 Book Reviews

Regarding pedagogy, the text uses a lot of different illustrations throughout the chapters. They
consist of objectives, stories, examples, and figures. Although the book attempts to entertain the
students with a variety of illustrations, the amount of such materials is overwhelming to many
students who may find it difficult to identify relevant information from all of these illustrations.
Overall, this book is very useful to students who have never studied accounting and is a good
introduction to students continuing to Intermediate Accounting classes. It does not, however,
provide a strong managerial accounting perspective. It is appropriate for instructors who have
never taught an introductory course before and for those who prefer a traditional financial ac-
counting and double-entry approach to accounting. There are several books on the market with
similar perspectives. This book is distinguished by its additional emphasis on ethics, critical
thinking, and technology. This highly readable book would be useful to students in community
colleges, and some four-year universities where the instructor wants to emphasize the technical
aspects of accounting.
RAFIK Z. ELIAS
Professor
California State University, Los Angeles

Issues in Accounting Education Volume 25, No. 1, 2010

American Accounting Association

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