Others say...

"Misnamed"
Although billed as a reference on accounting, this book is very inadequate for that purpose.

There are numerous accounting basics that are not mentioned or only touched on in passing. Among those that are not addressed at all are the following: monetary measurement, separate entity, realization, materiality. There are also other essentials that are missing.

There are several other fundamentals that are not covered adequately. Items in this category include these: FIFO, LIFO, and double entry accounting. Even the three essential reports of accounting - the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows - are inadequately covered.

This may be ok as a supplement to another book, but it is lacking a bit as a standalone on the subject it purports to cover.

"Good supplement for your accounting class!"
When I saw that I was foundering in my second attempt to pass accounting, I bought this book. It seemed to complement my textbook well. After reading this book I seemed to be able to understand the textbook and my accounting class better. In the end, I not only passed but received an "A" in the class. Might be due to the Dummies book, might be due to the time that I spent in my determination to pass.

I'm not saying that you'll get an A in your accounting class if you buy this book, but it will help you out if your instructor chose a poor accounting textbook.

Like all Dummies books, this is well written and well organized. I'd check it out if you find yourself confused in your Accounting class.



"Good explanations"
This book is suitable for those who want to understand what accounting is about. It provides good explanation for the dual-entry system and various ratios. After going through half of this book, my wife has gained some appreciation for basic accounting concepts.
Personally I think the book would be better if it includes some more exercises in number crunching. That is why it only gets four stars.
This book is useful for a casual person who wants to learn accounting. If you are an accounting student, don't expect this book to do better than your professor.

"Very Good book for Financial and Mangerial Accounting"
This is a great book for a person to use to suplment what is learned and practiced in Both entry level college accounting classes. It really will help you get a better grade in the class by reinforcing and explainations that are different then your typical college textbook. I highly reccomend this book for any college student that will be taking accounting, it is well worth it's price and I believe if read during the semester along with the practice in your class you will get a better grade. I did.

"Not for people who want to learn how to crunch some numbers."
If you are looking for a book that actually gives you good examples that will teach you to crunch some numbers on your own and prepare accounting statements and such, then this is NOT the book for you. It has a lot of writing about the different areas of accounting, but it did little for me. I was looking for a book that gave me real life examples that could help me understand how to do minimal accounting for my smal business. Some of the other introduction to accounting books are much better in this regard.