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8 Accounting For Dummies, 4th Edition Part IV: Preparing and Using Financial Reports In Part IV, I first explain how a financial report is put together (see Chapter 12). Next I discuss how investors and lenders read financial statements (see Chapter 13). Business managers need more information than is included in an external financial report to investors and lenders. In Chapter 14, I survey the additional information that managers need. I close this part of the book with a chapter that explains audits of financial statements by CPAs and the very serious problems of accounting and financial reporting fraud (see Chapter 15). If there were no Enrons in the world, things would be a lot simpler. I hate to say it, but the next Enron is just waiting to happen. Unfortunately, you can’t necessarily depend on audits to discover accounting fraud. Part V: The Part of Tens In the For Dummies style, I close the book with a pair of chapters in “The Part of Tens.” I condense the main lessons from the book’s chapters into two lists of ten vital points each. Chapter 16 reviews ten important ways business managers should use accounting information. Chapter 17 gives business investors handy tips for getting the most out of reading a financial report — tips on how to be efficient in reading a financial report and the key factors to focus on. Glossary The accounting terminology in financial statements is a mixed bag. Many terms are straightforward, but accountants also use esoteric terms that you don’t see outside of financial statements. Sometimes it must seem like accountants are speaking a foreign language. I must admit that accountants use jargon more than they should. In some situations accountants resort to arcane terminology to be technically correct, much like lawyers use arcane terminology in filing lawsuits and drawing up contracts. Where I use jargon in the book, I pause and clarify what the terms mean in plain English. Also, I present a helpful glossary at the end of the book that can assist you on your accounting safari. This glossary provides quick access to succinct definitions of key accounting and financial terms, with relevant commentary and an occasional editorial remark. This is better than your average glossary. Introduction Icons Used in This Book This icon points out especially important ideas and accounting concepts that are particularly deserving of your attention. The material marked by this icon describes concepts that are the undergirding and building blocks of accounting — concepts that you should be very clear about and that clarify your understanding of accounting principles in general. I use this icon sparingly; it refers to very specialized accounting stuff that is heavy going, which only a CPA could get really excited about. However, you may find these topics important enough to return to when you have the time. Feel free to skip over these points the first time through and stay with the main discussion. This icon calls your attention to useful advice on practical financial topics. It saves you the cost of buying a yellow highlighter pen. This icon is like a caution sign that warns you about speed bumps and potholes on the accounting highway. Taking special note of this material can steer you around a financial road hazard and keep you from blowing a fiscal tire. In short — watch out! Where to Go from Here There’s no law against you starting on page 1 and reading through to the last page. However, you may first want to scan the book’s Contents at a Glance and see which chapters pique your interest. Perhaps you’re an investor who is very interested in learning more about financial statements and the key financial statement ratios for investors. You might start with Chapters 4, 5, and 6 which explain the three primary financial statements of businesses, and finish with Chapter 13 on reading a financial report. (And don’t overlook Chapter 17.) Perhaps you’re a small business owner/manager with a basic understanding of your financial statements, but you need to improve how you use accounting information for making your key profit decisions, and for planning and controlling your cash flow. You might jump right into Chapters 9 and 10, which explain the analysis of profit behavior and budgeting cash flows. The book is not like a five-course dinner in which you have to eat in the order the food is served to you. It’s more like a buffet line from which you can pick and choose, and eat in whatever order you like. 9 10 Accounting For Dummies, 4th Edition Part I Opening the Books on Accounting A In this part . . . ccounting is essential in the worlds of business, investing, finance, and taxes. In this part, you find out why. Accountants are the “information gatekeepers” in the economy. Without accounting, a business couldn’t function, wouldn’t know whether it’s making a profit, and would be ignorant of its financial situation. Accounting is equally vital in managing the business affairs of not-forprofit and governmental entities. From its accounting records, a business prepares its financial statements, its tax returns, and the reports to its managers. In financial reports to investors and lenders, a business must obey authoritative accounting and financial reporting standards. If not, its financial reports would be misleading and possibly fraudulent, which could have dire consequences. Bookkeeping — the record-keeping part of accounting — must be done well to ensure that the financial information of a business is timely, complete, accurate, and reliable — especially the numbers reported in its financial statements and tax returns. Wrong numbers in financial reports and tax returns can cause all sorts of trouble. Chapter 1 Accounting: The Language of Business, Investing, Finance, and Taxes In This Chapter
Realizing how accounting is relevant to you
Grasping how all economic activity requires accounting
Watching an accounting department in action
Shaking hands with business financial statements
Mama, should you let your baby grow up to be an accountant? A ccounting is all about financial information — capturing it, recording it, configuring it, analyzing it, and reporting it to persons who use it. I don’t say much about how accountants capture, record, and configure financial information in this book. But I talk a lot about how accountants communicate information in financial statements, and I explain the valuation methods accountants use — ranging from measuring profit and loss to putting values on assets and liabilities of businesses. As you go through life, you come face to face with accounting information more than you would ever imagine. Regretfully, much of this information is not selfexplanatory or intuitive, and it does not come with a user’s manual. Accounting information is presented on the assumption that you have a basic familiarity with the vocabulary of accounting and the accounting methods used to generate the information. In short, most of the accounting information you encounter is not transparent. The main reason for studying accounting is to learn its vocabulary and valuation methods, so you can make more intelligent use of the information. 14 Part I: Opening the Books on Accounting People who use accounting information should know the basic rules of play and how the financial score is kept, much like spectators at a football or baseball game. The purpose of this book is to make you a knowledgeable spectator of the accounting game. Let me point out another reason you should know accounting basics — I call it the defensive reason. A lot of people out there in the cold, cruel financial world may take advantage of you, not necessarily by illegal means but by withholding key information and by diverting your attention from unfavorable aspects of certain financial decisions. These unscrupulous characters treat you as a lamb waiting to be fleeced. The best defense against such tactics is to know some accounting, which can help you ask the right questions and understand the financial points that con artists don’t want you to know. Accounting Is Not Just for Accountants One main source of accounting information is in the form of financial statements that are packaged with other information in a financial report. Accountants keep the books and record the financial activities of an entity (such as a business). From these detailed records the accountant prepares financial statements that summarize the results of the activities. Financial statements are sent to people who have a stake in the outcomes of the activities. If you own stock in General Electric, for example, or you have money in a mutual fund, you receive regular financial reports. If you invest your hard-earned money in a private business or a real estate venture, or you save money in a credit union, you receive regular financial reports. If you are a member of a nonprofit association or organization, you’re entitled to receive regular financial reports. In summary, one important reason for studying accounting is to make sense of the financial statements in the financial reports you get. I guarantee that Warren Buffett knows accounting and how to read financial statements. I sent him a copy of my How To Read A Financial Report (Wiley). In his reply, he said he planned to recommend it to his “accounting challenged” friends. Affecting both insiders and outsiders People who need to know accounting fall into two broad groups: insiders and outsiders. Business managers are insiders; they have the authority and responsibility to run a business. They need a good understanding of accounting terms and the methods used to measure profit and put values on assets and liabilities. Chapter 1: Accounting: The Language of Business, Investing, Finance, and Taxes Accounting information is indispensable for planning and controlling the financial performance and condition of the business. Likewise, administrators of nonprofit and governmental entities need to understand the accounting terminology and measurement methods in their financial statements. The rest of us are outsiders. We are not privy to the day-to-day details of a business or organization. We have to rely on financial reports from the entity to know what’s going on. Therefore, we need to have a good grip on the financial statements included in the financial reports. For all practical purposes, financial reports are the only source of financial information we get directly from a business or other organization. By the way, the employees of a business — even though they obviously have a stake in the success of the business — do not necessarily receive its financial reports. Only the investors in the business and its lenders are entitled to receive the financial reports. Of course, a business could provide this information to those of its employees who are not shareowners, but generally speaking most businesses do not. The financial reports of public businesses are in the public domain, so their employees can easily secure a copy. However, financial reports are not automatically mailed to all employees of a public business. In our personal financial lives, a little accounting knowledge is a big help for understanding investing in general, how investment performance is measured, and many other important financial topics. With some basic accounting knowledge, you’ll sound much more sophisticated when speaking with your banker or broker. I can’t promise you that learning accounting will save you big bucks on your income taxes, but it can’t hurt and will definitely help you understand what your tax preparer is talking about. Keep in mind that this is not a book on bookkeeping and recordkeeping systems. I offer a brief explanation of procedures for capturing, processing, and storing accounting information in Chapter 3. Even experienced bookkeepers and accountants should find some nuggets in that chapter. However, this book is directed to users of accounting information. I focus on the end products of accounting, particularly financial statements, and not how information is accumulated. When buying a new car, you’re interested in the finished product, not details of the manufacturing process that produced it. Overcoming the stereotypes of accountants I recently saw a cartoon in which the young son of clowns is standing in a circus tent and is dressed as a clown, but he is holding a business briefcase. He is telling his clown parents that he is running away to join a CPA firm. Why is this funny? Because it plays off the stereotype of a CPA (certified public accountant) 15 16 Part I: Opening the Books on Accounting as a “bean counter” who wears a green eyeshade and has the personality of an undertaker (no offense to morticians). Maybe you’ve heard the joke that an accountant with a personality is one who looks at your shoes when he is talking to you, instead his own shoes. Like most stereotypes, there’s an element of truth in the preconceived image of accountants. As a CPA and accounting professor for more than 40 years, I have met and known a large number of accountants. Most accountants are not as gregarious as used-car sales people (though some are). Accountants certainly are more detail-oriented than your average person. However, you don’t have to be good at mathematics to be a good accountant. Accountants use very little math (no calculus and only simple algebra). Accountants are very good at one thing: They want to see both sides of financial transactions: the give and take. Accountants know better than anyone that, as economists are fond of saying, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. If you walked down a busy street in Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles, I doubt that you could pick out the accountants. I have no idea whether accountants have higher or lower divorce rates than others, whether they go to church more frequently, whether most are Republicans or Democrats, or if they generally sleep well at night. I do think that accountants are more honest in paying their income taxes than other people, although I have no proof of this. Relating accounting to your personal financial life I’m sure you know the value of learning personal finance and investing fundamentals. (I can recommend Personal Finance For Dummies and Investing For Dummies by Eric Tyson, MBA, both published by Wiley.) Well, a great deal of the information you use in making personal finance and investing decisions is accounting information. One knock I have on books in these areas is that they often don’t make clear that you need a basic understanding of accounting terminology and valuation methods in order to make good use of the financial information. You have a stake in the financial performance of the business you work for, the government entities you pay taxes to, the churches and charitable organizations you donate money to, the retirement plan you participate in, the businesses you buy from, and the healthcare providers you depend on. The financial performance and viability of these entities has a direct bearing on your personal financial life and well-being. Chapter 1: Accounting: The Language of Business, Investing, Finance, and Taxes We’re all affected by the profit performance of businesses, even though we may not be fully aware of just how their profit performance affects our jobs, investments, and taxes. For example, as an employee your job security and your next raise depend on the business making a profit. If the business suffers a loss, you may be laid off or asked to take a reduction in pay or benefits. Business managers get paid to make profit happen. If the business fails to meet its profit objectives or suffers a loss, its managers may be replaced (or at least not get their bonuses). As an author, I hope my publisher continues to make profit so I can keep receiving my royalty checks. Your investments in businesses, whether direct or through retirement accounts and mutual funds, suffer if the businesses don’t turn a profit. I hope the stores I trade with make profit and continue in business. The federal government and many states depend on businesses making profit to collect income taxes from them. Looking for Accounting in All the Right Places Accounting extends into virtually every walk of life. You’re doing accounting when you make entries in your checkbook and when you fill out your federal income tax return. When you sign a mortgage on your home, you should understand the accounting method the lender uses to calculate the interest amount charged on your loan each period. Individual investors need to understand accounting basics in order to figure their return on invested capital. And it goes without saying that every organization, profit-motivated or not, needs to know how it stands financially. Here’s a quick sweep to give you an idea of the range of accounting:  Accounting for organizations and accounting for individuals  Accounting for profit-motivated businesses and accounting for nonprofit organizations (such as hospitals, homeowners’ associations, churches, credit unions, and colleges)  Income tax accounting while you’re living and estate tax accounting when you die  Accounting for farmers who grow their products, accounting for miners who extract their products from the earth, accounting for producers who manufacture products, and accounting for retailers who sell products that others make 17