Customer Reviews

Financial Accounting: In an Economic Context

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The book is easy to understand, but there should be a solutions manual, or at least an answer key to the exercises. It has been very difficult for me to "learn the mechanics" and "apply the concepts" at the end of each chapter. The pace of the course allows the teacher to solve only 2 or 3 exercises in class, and the book certainly does not make selfstudy easy. Needless to say, that you can't learn financial accounting just by reading. To makes things even worse, a study guide, which does not refer to the same exercises in the book, is out of print.

Back in the early 90's I took Professor Pratt's class when he was on loan to the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern. His book had not yet been published but he gave all of us copies of the manuscript for the course. So..I needed to replace that version since it had long since fallen apart. This book is great for non-accountants who wish to enhance their understanding of annual reports and interpretation skills. As anyone who has glanced through an annual report can attest, they are not terribly straightforward in identifying changes in the financial status of a company that are less than flattering. They tend to 'accentuate the positive.' Jamie Pratt teaches how to see through these reports to more accurately assess a company's financial condition. Don't expect to be spoon fed by reading this book. Like any complex system, becoming proficient requires study and understanding of fundamental concepts. If you are willing to commit some time, this book will provide the necessary tools.

There are no answers provided for any exercises. No online help either like most modern textbooks. YOu have an option to pay more money to get the study guide. This book is simply a tool to rack up more money, not to help students.

This book is SO boring!
No answers to its exercises! I got answers from my professor.
Some exercises have the exact same questions but totally differnt methods to calculate! What I mean by different methods is not different ways that you could understand when you see keys, it's totally different ....(I do not know how to put it.) and these exercises are so caotic and it always drives me crazy!
It's out dated.
Some(a lot, I would say) accounting terminologies are used interchangeblly, you have no idea about the topic and you have to read it several more times!
Anyway, this is a weired, dangerous book! Use it only under your instructor's instruction! Or you will never finish it.

The book is complicated and dull. Besides that, there are no solutions or answers to problems. So, you cant use the book for self study.Try financial accounting by libby, its much better.

Book arrived on earlier than stated. And it was in better condition than stated in the description. Great Buy! I would use them again.

it's only "accepatable". At least three students used this book. but for the low price, it's still a good choice.

Here is one of the best ratings for this book: most of my fellow MBA students are pathalogical whiners. Even they found this book to be very helpful.

I have a background in technical education and it looks to me like Jamie Pratt knows how to educate his students.

The book was in good condition as was advertised and it arrived in a timely fashion. I am happy with the purchase.

This is your typically dry and straightforward treatment of financial accounting. The chapters are clearly written, with objectives stated at the start and concise summaries of the main points at the end.

Speaking from my experience as a college instructor in a completely different discipline, I see very little value to this text as a teaching tool compared to cheaper alternatives like John Tracy's How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers and Karen Berman and Joe Knight's Financial Intelligence: A Manager's Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean. This is especially true if the real purposes of the gateway Financial Accounting class are to learn basic terminology, how subjective accounting decisions can be (e.g., revenue recognition, depreciation method, inventory valuation, etc.), the possible ways management can manipulate financial statements, and the basic structure of the modern business. These two other books make much better self-study books, as they are written in first-person (and are thus conversational in tone) and are simply more engaging and enjoyable to read.