Intermediate Accounting (19th Edition)

Book Preface

Currency + Context = Motivation

Motivation

From the smallest mom-and-pop retailer to the largest multinational corporation, businesses of all sizes are recognizing that accounting professionals are no longer simply “number crunchers” but, rather, essential partners in achieving the fundamental goals of their organization. When people understand accounting’s critical role in managing a business and making business decisions, they are motivated to learn accounting. That is why Intermediate Accounting, 19e provides a powerful connection between accounting and business today with:
• Business strategy cases at the start of each chapter that describe how a real-world firm such as MicroStrategy struggled with revenue recognition and the pressures on management to interpret revenue as positively as possible.
• Coverage of high-interest and current topics such as earnings management, fair value, and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as well as other issues that are driving accounting in today’s business environment.
• FASB codification activities that link FASB research with real business situations and help readers understand how to research and use authoritative guidance as well as why that guidance is important.
• Real-world end-of-chapter case activities that use the financial results of companies such as The Walt Disney Company, The Boston Celtics, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell to help readers connect accounting to business.

CURRENCY—Current and Relevant Coverage

One look at the business pages of any newspaper shows how illusory long-term success can be. Yesterday’s runaway successes can quickly find themselves derailed by the new realities of today’s business world. This is the first text to provide a real-world perspective that links accounting functions to the activities of business. International Financial Reporting Standards topics, indicated by this symbol throughout the text, help students understand how accounting practices differ from country to country and reflect the increasingly global nature of business.

The international environment of business is dramatically changing the landscape of accounting. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are working together to develop one set of accounting standards to be used by companies in countries around the world. No longer is the United States making the rules for the rest of the world to  follow. Instead, the FASB and the IASB are working hand-in-hand as financial accounting standards converge at a pace that was not dreamed of even five years ago.

The international environment has greatly affected this textbook. Every chapter discusses relevant accounting standards and developments from both a U.S. and a global perspective. Each chapter begins with a discussion of the accounting standards and procedures used by companies complying with U.S. GAAP. Then those areas where U.S. GAAP and international accounting standards are significantly different are discussed so that the reader can understand how accounting standards around the world are similar and how they are different. A chapter on Accounting in a Global Market further emphasizes the role of International Financial Reporting Standards.

The objective of this approach is to develop in students the ability to see beyond the borders of the United States and understand that the global business environment is leading to global accounting standards. Users of this text will understand that they are not just learning U.S. GAAP. Instead, they are being prepared to be active participants in a global accounting environment with the ability to understand and apply international accounting standards as well as U.S. accounting standards.

Fair Value Accounting is another major topic affecting the accounting environment. The credit crisis of 2008 is blamed by some on the inappropriate use of fair value accounting. A module details the why, when, where, and how for using fair values in financial statements. Because this concept of fair value accounting is so important and affects so many of the principles and topics discussed later in the text, it has been placed near the front of the text following the discussion of the financial statements.

A Chapter on Earnings Management in Part 1 establishes a framework for the remainder of the course. Students come to understand the importance and ramifications of earnings management through current, real-world examples, extracts from SEC enforcement actions, business press analysis, and the extensive use of academic research findings.

FASB Codification feature presents a relevant issue and related question in order to assist students in understanding how to use the FASB’s codification in research. This feature is found in each chapter and includes a description of the issue at hand, a specific question pertaining to that given issue, and suggestions for “Searching the Codification” in order to guide students in the right direction for research. Each feature includes an answer section at the end of the chapter, so that students can check their research and adjust their technique as needed. References throughout the textbook reflect the FASB ASC (Accounting Standards Codification).