Accounting Minefield -- Effectively Avoiding Accounting Disasters

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: This is a book about the use and misuse of accounting techniques, which does not require readers to have accounting expertise. It helps investors avoid many accounting disasters discussed in the book by adopting a skeptical and inquisitive attitude. The cases cited by the author in the book are sourced from current news reports, government documents, higher education, and newspapers and magazines. They hope to help readers identify unreliable accounting practices before disasters strike by examining past cases of untrustworthy companies. The book encourages a prudent attitude of skepticism and contributes to a business environment where people can once again trust the profits created by companies and the disclosures made by them. Only in such a business environment can people regain confidence in the profits generated by companies and the financial disclosures they make. The author of this book is a renowned financial expert in the United States, and the purpose of writing this book is to enable a wide range of investors, analysts, financial journalists, shareholders, board members, and even company insiders to identify financial pitfalls in companies, take preventive measures, and minimize investors' losses before accounting bombs explode. Although the book is aimed at the general public, board members ultimately need to understand basic financial knowledge. Therefore, the target readers of this book are both insiders and outsiders of companies—both of whom expect honest and transparent financial disclosures from companies. The book does not contain very complex accounting terminology, and the author uses very simple language, along with well-known cases, to show readers where accounting bombs might exist in companies.