Principles of Financial Accounting
This textbook covers all the topics that are typically taught in a principles of
financial accounting course. The instructor or student who will use it will find
great material including very well explained examples. Nonetheless, I think
the book includes more topics than should be included in an introductory
financial accounting text. In addition, some of the topics are presented with a
level of detail that is, in my opinion, beyond the scope of an intro-level
course. I would categorize this text as an “augmented” principles of financial
accounting book.
The textbook presents accurate accounting knowledge and accurate
examples. Based on the sample of examples that I picked; it does not appear
to have any errors in calculations. Overall, the content seems accurate.
The content in the textbook is relevant to the principles of accounting course.
It will have a long life assuming no major changes will occur in GAAP, such
as the measurement or disclosure of some items covered in the book. I am
positive that the instructor can easily adapt this work to any changes, which
overall makes this text stand the test of time.
One of the major strengths of this textbook is its simple writing style and the
clarity of its exposition. The ideas are easy to follow, and the examples are
presented in small knowledge bites, which increases the overall readability
and clarity of the concepts for the students.
The author uses consistent accounting terminology throughout the textbook.
In addition, the presentation of the financial statements is also consistent.
This helps students focus more on the material and less on the presentation.
One of the major areas of improvement of this text concerns the adequacy
and the modularity of the content. Chapter 1, which in my opinion is the most
important chapter in the introductory course is very condensed and too
ambitious. Chapter 1 can be presented differently with a lighter coverage so
that the students do not get discouraged. Also, Chapter 4 is twice the length
of the other chapters and contains very condensed material. Chapters 3 and 6
are half of the length of the other chapters. I suggest the author divides
Chapter 4 into two or more chapters so that the chapters are evenly
distributed in terms of content and text.
One other major issue related to modularity is the absence of student learning
objectives from the textbook. It is hard to provide a good modularity and
structure if the SLOs of every chapter are not clearly stated.
Another area of improvement in this textbook is the organization of the
chapters and the organization of the material within the chapters. While the
ideas seem to flow well, the sections are a little disorganized. For example, in
Chapter 4, usually the sections are organized according to the order of
liquidity of the assets, which is not the case in this textbook. In addition, the
discussion of Accounts Receivables is concealed under the section
“Uncollectible Accounts”. I would rather see the organization of the chapter
follow the order of the accounts on a balance sheet. The same comment is
also valid for the organization of Chapter 5.
I commend the author is preparing very clear visuals. Many students will find
them helpful. The interface looks clean and clear. Nonetheless, in some
sections, there seems to be too much text compared to some other sections.
The alteration between text and visuals should be reviewed.
I didn’t identify any errors other than the ones identified by previous
reviewers. Overall, the textbook is free of grammatical errors.
The material is technical, and the examples are free of cultural bias. Some examples may relate more to the North American setting than any other areas of the world, and this makes sense since the textbook explains accounting standards according to the U.S. GAAP.
This textbook is a Principles of Accounting text on steroids. It is
comprehensive but some topics are covered in more detail than the typical
introductory financial accounting class. I overall recommend this textbook to
fellow instructors and students. I commend the author for providing great
examples and informative visuals throughout the textbook. Nonetheless, the
instructor adopting this text will likely have to reallocate the content in the
chapters among the learning modules for an even spread of the learning
activities. In addition, the absence of student learning objectives makes it
hard to focus on the salient parts of a chapter. Lastly, the textbook does not
provide practice exercises as customary of financial accounting textbooks.
The instructors and students may also want to take this aspect into
consideration.