MoviesDoorToDoor.com: How Accounting Helped Make the Difference [Paperback]

Mark S. Beasley (Author), Frank A. Buckless (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 013061047X | ISBN-13: 978-0130610478 | Publication Date: December 28, 2001 | Edition: 1

This novella uses its fun and fictional story setting to highlight how an understanding of basic accounting concepts and related information is necessary to operate a business successfully. Its unique format will engage and motivate readers and learners from a wide variety of backgrounds, and enlighten them as to the need and use of accounting in their various professional careers. The story line chronologically follows a realistic progression of events that occur when a business is created. Each chapter focuses on a key event in the exciting life of this hypothetical start-up company. For anyone entering a business related career without an accounting background, and for bank training classes—particularly new hires entering into lending and credit approval responsibilities.

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From the Back Cover

What if you had a great idea for your own business?
What if you also had the manpower and funds to do it?
What if you had no accounting background whatsoever?

Imagine having the tools to build a successful business of your own, but no idea how to use them. You'd likely end up with a lot of headaches, lost revenue, and the nagging thought, "if only I'd known ...." Like many unsuccessful entrepreneurs, most students just don't understand the importance of accounting in their future business lives. Fortunately, Movies DoorToDoor.com; How Accounting Helped Make the Difference can help. This novella presents a situation that any college student can relate to-the desire to be your own boss-while driving home the importance of accounting in starting your own business. An engaging story and an important lesson in one, your students will learn from the ups and downs of three recent college grads starting their own business without a solid background in accounting.

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MoviesDoorToDoor.com: How Accounting Helped Make the Difference is the fictional story of three recent college grads who sense this unique business opportunity and act on it. Find out how accounting helped them in the early stages of setting up their new business.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

One of the greatest challenges when teaching most business courses is helping students see the relevance and value of the course content for their future business careers. While students frequently share dreams of becoming an entrepreneur, they often struggle with understanding how course materials will ever personally affect them.

This concern is particularly relevant when teaching introductory courses in accounting. At most institutions, the majority of students enrolled in the introductory course are majoring in fields other than accounting. Many of these students approach the course with some trepidation and doubt whether the material will have much long-term benefit for them personally. Furthermore, the lack of a solid understanding of business concepts often causes students to struggle with mastering the technical accounting content because they are unable to recognize how the accounting concepts and issues affect major business decisions.

The purpose of MoviesDoorToDoor.com: How Accounting Helped Make the Difference is to present accounting and business concepts in a logical order consistent with the way business owners and managers face them in the business world. This book features in a fictional story format three young entrepreneurs, Brad, Courtney and John, who must make numerous business decisions as they create and grow a start-up company. While none of the business founders has much accounting training or experience, they quickly realize that many of their business decisions must be based on solid accounting information. The story describes how they use that information when encountering both trials and triumphs while starting a traditional "brick and mortar" business that has an Internet-based component in the uncertain technology economy.

This book is divided into twelve short chapters that deal with various business decisions made by Brad, Courtney and John as their business unfolds. Rather than address the issues in the order they are presented on the balance sheet, much like many traditional textbooks for introductory accounting do, this book introduces accounting and other business activities in a chronological order most consistent with what business owners would actually face when creating and growing a business. We believe that presenting accounting concepts in a story format that intertwines both personal and business issues will motivate student interest in the content of the introductory course in accounting, thus increasing their learning. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter are designed to stimulate class discussion on related accounting and business concepts.

This book is intended to be used as a supplemental reading in an introductory accounting course, at the undergraduate or MBA levels. There are a couple of approaches instructors can take to integrate this with other course materials. One approach would be to assign the reading of the book early in the semester or quarter to give students an overview of the business context of how accounting is used. Relevant chapter materials can be referenced throughout the semester or quarter as the concepts are introduced in class. Another approach would be to spread the reading of each of the chapters evenly over the semester or quarter period, requiring only a few minutes of reading each week. Instructors would take a few moments during class periods to link the concepts to the textbook material. Under either approach, the discussion questions, whether answered individually or in groups, can be used to stimulate rich'class discussions.

Because this book also presents issues faced when developing and creating a new business, the use of MoviesDoorToDoor.com: How Accounting Helped Make the Difference can also be used in an introductory business course, a course on small businesses, or an entrepreneurial-focused class. In addition, this book may be an effective resource for executive education or other corporate programs focused on training non-accounting or non-business professionals.

The company and characters presented in MoviesDoorToDoor.com: How Accounting Helped Make the Difference are purely fictional and are not intended to portray real persons, organizations or events. Also, the book is not intended to present all aspects of a start-up business. However, we have attempted to make the book representative of relevant personalities and experiences one might expect to encounter when starting a new business.

Finally, we would like to thank Eric Blazer of Millersville University, Mary Ann M. Prater of Clemson University and Dan Stone of the University of Kentucky for providing content and instructional feedback related to this project. We are also grateful to Jason Danforth, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for providing extensive feedback to ensure the book increased student interest and learning in accounting and business. And, we appreciate the helpful insights of Andrea Buckless and Craig Welch, both non-accounting educators, and Beth Beasley, a former bank commercial loan officer. We especially thank Thomas Sigel, Executive Editor, of Prentice Hall who embraced this project with enthusiasm. We also thank other members of the Prentice Hall team including Beth Toland, Laura Rogers, and John Roberts for their hard work. Most importantly, we are grateful to our families for their patience and tremendous support throughout the writing of this book.

Mark S. Beasley
Frank A. Buckless

Product Details

• Paperback: 137 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1 edition (December 28, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013061047X
• ISBN-13: 978-0130610478
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars movies door to door review, September 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: MoviesDoorToDoor.com: How Accounting Helped Make the Difference (Paperback)

Good overview of accounting for a startup, but the writing quality is a little like a Dick and Jane book. Good for teaching accounting, or for teaching a first grader to read.