Essentials of Accounting for Governmental and Not-for-Profit Organizations (Paperback)

by John Engstrom (Author), Paul A. Copley (Author) "Governments differ from business organizations discussed in other accounting courses in that governments have no stockholders or other owners, they commonly render services with no..." (more)
Key Phrases: motor fuel tax fund, uncollectible delinquent taxes, estimated other financing, Debits Credits, Village of Elizabeth, Budgetary Fund Balance (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Engstrom and Copley's Essentials of Accounting for Governmental and Not-for-Profit Organizations,7e is best suited for those professors whose objective is to provide more concise coverage than is available in larger texts as well as for those professors whose objective is to prepare accounting majors for the uniform CPA Examination, including state and local governmental accounting, accounting for not-for-profit organizations, governmental auditing, and taxation of exempt entities. This edition incorporates all of the FASB, GASB, and AICPA pronouncements passed since the last edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin; 7 edition (February 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072820373
• ISBN-13: 978-0072820379
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #134,810 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst accounting book I have ever came across..., June 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Essentials of Accounting for Governmental and Not-For-Profit Organizations (Paperback)

Of all of the accounting books that I have read, this is the worst. Very very dry... Can you imagine that the author writes journal entries in paragraph form. There is absolutely no structure for the book, no summaries, no examples, no questions and answers.

This book would only be useful if you have other references to go to. Otherwise, by itself, it will just confuse and discourage you from study governmental accounting.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst accounting book I've read to date!, September 20, 2005

By	Mary - See all my reviews

This is the first textbook that I haven't been able to read through all the assigned chapters. That's saying a lot since I already have one degree and working on a second.

Wow! The text is extremely dry! No book should have 6 or 7 bolded terms in a row and not bother to explain the terms. Also it makes no distinction between some terms. For instance, appropriations vs. emcumbrance vs. expenditure. I had to figure that out on my own.

As someone else said, this is NOT a self-study book! Granted no accounting book should baby you, but if nobody in the class understands what the hell the book is saying, then there's something wrong. If you're using the book for a class and want to use the PowerPoint slides on the publisher's website, don't bother! They're just as bad as the textbook. They don't have a logical flow to them. They don't even flow with the book. What is at the beginning of a chapter in the book may be at the end of the PowerPoint slides for that chapter. There are big chunks of the chapters missing from the slides.

I can't believe this is the 7th edition of this book! It's written like it was the first edition. The author has no concept of how people study. McGraw-Hill should have stopped publishing this horrendous book after the first edition.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst Text I ever had to read, October 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Essentials of Accounting for Governmental and Not-for-profit Organizations (Paperback)

If it was possible to give this book a negetive star review I would. It has no organization, no structure, and makes no sense. It is by far the worst text I have ever had to read. Although the author is a professor, he must be a very bad one. He has no grasp on how students learn, and makes no attempt to link information together. He uses the same example throughout the entire text. As if in chapter 9, you rememeber what entry 14, is in chapter 3. A horrible book. It is easier to read the GASB statements than it is this book. DO NOT BUY IT!!