Data Analytics & Excel Skill Development for Career Readiness

The basics of accounting haven’t changed much in hundreds of years, but businesses have experienced significant change in the last decade due to the increased use of new technologies ranging from data analytics and Blockchain to machine learning and artificial intelligence. Technology is rapidly altering how accounting is performed and what can be done with the data once they are collected.

In addition to data analytics skills, employers expect prospective employees to be proficient with Excel. In recognition of the increasing importance of data analytics and the need for Excel proficiency, included with this text are several features to enhance students’ career readiness.

• We include Data Analytics boxes throughout the text to expose students to techniques that are used by businesses in areas related to the topic being discussed. The following box appears in the chapter on inventory.
  
  

• Appendix D at the end of the book provides an overview of data analytics, data visualization, and best practices for the effective display of data.

• Data Analytics and Data Visualization assignments are available in myBusinessCourse. The assignments develop Excel, Tableau, and Data Analytics skills, which will enhance students’ career readiness.

• myBusinessCourse (MBC) now contains a series of short videos that demonstrate the basic functions of Excel. These videos can be accessed within MBC as part of your MBC course

Welcome to Survey of Accounting for Non-Accountants by Mark DeFond

Welcome to the first edition of Survey of Accounting for Non-Accountants. The objective of this text is to expose students with diverse educational backgrounds to the fundamental concepts of financial and managerial accounting without overwhelming them with the mechanics and procedures more appropriate for future accountants. This book makes extensive use of real-world companies to help students understand how to use accounting information. To further aid student success in the course, we provide a wealth of resources through our online learning and homework system, myBusinessCourse (MBC). Access to MBC is included for free with the purchase of each new copy of the text and can be purchased separately. (For more information on MBC see page x of the preface.)

Target Audience

Survey of Accounting for Non-Accountants is an ideal text for use in a course that emphasizes a succinct overview of accounting for students who intend to pursue careers outside accounting. This book is intended to provide students with a working knowledge of the underlying concepts of financial and managerial accounting. With a strong emphasis on the interpretation of real-world financial statements, the book teaches students how to read, analyze, and interpret financial and managerial accounting data to make informed business decisions. The book is filled with examples that use reports from actual companies, an approach that students find engaging.

Transaction Analysis Template

The most important difference between this textbook and traditional introductory accounting texts is that this textbook does not use debits and credits to teach accounting. While Appendix C, “The Language of Accountants: Debits and Credits,” describes the system of debits and credits, students are not required to learn this system and it is not discussed in the body of the text. Knowledge of debits and credits is not required because the focus is on teaching students how to understand and analyze the financial statements. This contrasts sharply with traditional introductory textbooks, which focus primarily on teaching students how to prepare financial statements.

In place of debits and credits, the book uses a creative new tool that is designed to teach students how economic transactions translate into the financial reports. This tool is called the “Transaction Analysis Template,” or TAT for short. The TAT is an abbreviated version of a horizontal worksheet and provides students with a “shorthand” way of understanding and interpreting accounting reports. Once students learn the basic structure of a balance sheet and income statement, the TAT becomes a simple and highly intuitive technique for learning financial accounting.

Dropping the use of debits and credits in an introductory class has many advantages. One is that it frees up time for the instructor to focus on what the financial reports and accounting actually mean. Learning the system of debits and credits is time consuming for even the brightest student, and a significant amount of the instructor’s time can be spent explaining mechanical rules. Replacing debits and credits with the TAT allows time for deeper class discussions of important accounting concepts. Most students will not go on to become accountants, and for them, learnings the system of debits and credits is of limited value. The TAT is a mechanism that allows these students to get much more out of their introductory accounting course. Rather than take up precious course time learning a set of mechanical rules, students are allowed to concentrate on the concepts that underlie the accounting, and what the accounting information means.

Real Companies' Financial Statements

A feature that really brings accounting alive for students is seeing the accounting practices and reports of companies with which they are familiar. To this end, each chapter incorporates examples using real companies that students know. For example, we discuss accounting issues related to Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, Panera Bread, MGM Resorts, and many others.

Real Data and Examples

A number of assignments require students to use year-end financial statements of Columbia Sportswear, Under Armour, and others.

Accounting in Practice

Boxed inserts are included throughout the text to help bridge the gap between the classroom and what students encounter in the real world. Accounting In Practice illustrations document situations a reader is likely to encounter and present the choices that companies make in reporting financial results.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)

Increasingly, companies have found that “doing good” leads to a more successful, profitable enterprise. These boxed inserts help students understand how corporate reporting on ESG is being embraced by forward-thinking enterprises as part of their long-term business models.

Organizing for Student Success

To help students succeed in the course, we include many features that provide direction to students and require them to recall and apply the accounting techniques and concepts described in each chapter.

Putting Each Chapter in Context

Often, lose sight of the big picture. The Past/Present/Future feature provides students with an overview of where the chapter fits within the whole course.

Mapping Each Chapter

Each chapter begins with a Road Map highlighting the chapter’s learning objectives and corresponding eLecture videos, Guided Example videos, and assignments. The Chapter Organization chart provides an overview that visually depicts the layout of the chapter.

Reviews

Review boxes are integrated throughout each chapter as a means of reinforcing the material just presented. Solutions are provided at the end of the chapter so students can check their work. The reviews are also illustrated through “Guided Example” videos accessible directly from the eBook and via MBC.

A.K.A. Sidebars

A.K.A. (Also Known As) notations inform students of commonly used alternative terms that they may encounter.

Takeaways

These in-chapter summaries ensure that students grasp key concepts before proceeding to the next topic.

Ethics

In In today’s post-Sarbanes-Oxley world, ethical decision-making has never been more pertinent to business and students studying accounting. We discuss ethics where appropriate in the text, and we have included assignments that raise ethical issues. Assignments involving ethics are identified by the icon in the margin.

Thinking Globally

Thinking Globally inserts emphasize the similarities and differences in accounting practices between the United States and other countries.

Teaching Supplements

Solutions Manual: Created by the authors, the solutions manual contains complete solutions to all assignments.

Test Bank: Written by the authors, the test bank includes multiple choice items, true/false, exercises, and problems.

PowerPoint: Created by the authors, the PowerPoint slides outline key elements of each chapter.

myBusinessCourse: An online learning and assessment program intended to complement your textbook and classroom instruction (see page ix for more details.) Access to myBusinessCourse is FREE with the purchase of a new textbook and can also be purchased separately.