Contents -- Introduction -- 01 Introduction to accounting -- Objective -- Learning outcomes -- Key topics covered -- Management issues -- Introduction -- Who and what is an accountant? -- The two forms of accounting: financial accounting and management accounting -- The financial accountant -- Who are the users of financial accounting information? -- The regulatory and conceptual framework -- The qualitative characteristics of useful financial information -- The regulatory framework -- The standard-setting process -- Types of business entity -- The annual report and financial statements -- The elements of financial statements -- The articulation of the financial statements -- A brief guide to some key problems and issues with financial statements -- Comprehension questions -- Exercises -- Answers to comprehension questions -- Answers to exercises -- 02 Accounting concepts and systems -- Objective -- Learning outcomes -- Key topics covered -- Management issues -- Introduction -- What is the purpose of the financial statements? -- Statement of comprehensive income (income statement) -- The statement of financial position (balance sheet) -- The statement of cash flows -- Preparing a set of financial statements -- The income statement: cost of sales working -- Underlying concepts: measurement rules and fundamental accounting concepts -- Three further property, plant and equipment issues -- Recording accounting information -- Comprehension questions -- Exercises -- Answers to comprehension questions -- Answers to exercises -- 03 Financial analysis: Part I -- Objective -- Learning outcomes -- Key topics covered -- Management issues -- Introduction -- Financial statement analysis for investment purposes -- Other users and their needs -- Horizontal analysis and trend analysis -- Vertical analysis -- Ratio analysis -- Key ratios.

Weaknesses and limitations -- Conclusion -- Comprehension questions -- Exercises -- Answers to comprehension questions -- Answers to exercises -- 04 Financial analysis: Part II -- Objective -- Learning outcomes -- Key topics covered -- Management issues -- Introduction -- The drive for information -- Stakeholder management -- Corporate social responsibility reporting -- Earnings announcements, conference calls and investor presentations -- Media relations: press releases and newspaper coverage -- Social media and internet bulletins -- Conclusion -- Comprehension questions -- Answers to comprehension questions -- 05 Business planning -- Objective -- Learning outcomes -- Key topics covered -- Management issues -- Introduction -- Why budget? -- Business planning and control: the role of budgets -- The budget-setting process -- Practical budget-setting -- The basic steps of preparing a budget -- Budgeting in different types of organization -- Limitations and problems with budgeting -- Improving business planning and budgeting -- Conclusion -- Comprehension questions -- Exercises -- Answers to comprehension questions -- Answers to exercises -- 06 Budgets and performance management -- Objective -- Learning outcomes -- Key topics covered -- Management issues -- Introduction -- Responsibility centres -- The controllability principle -- Profit-related performance measurement -- Standard costing -- Standard costing and variance analysis -- Variance analysis -- Performance management in investment centres -- Which is the best measure: ROI or EVA? -- Non-financial performance indicators -- The balanced scorecard -- Performance measurement in not-for-profit organizations -- Value for money (VFM) as a public-sector objective -- NPO performance measurement: an example -- Behavioural aspects of performance management: gaming and creative accounting.

External influences on performance -- Performance management in modern business systems -- Conclusion -- Comprehension questions -- Exercises -- Answers to comprehension questions -- Answers to exercises -- 07 Cash flow -- Objective -- Learning outcomes -- Key topics covered -- Management issues -- Introduction -- Why does a business need cash? -- What is cash flow? -- How much cash does a business need? -- Methods of establishing cash balances -- Cash management: strategies for improving cash flow -- Cash forecasting: the cash budget -- Interpreting and analysing a cash-flow forecast -- Conclusion -- Comprehension questions -- Exercises -- Answers to comprehension questions -- Answers to exercises -- 08 Pricing decisions -- Objective -- Learning outcomes -- Key topics covered -- Management issues -- Introduction -- The accountant's perspective - costing and pricing -- Absorption costing and full-cost-plus pricing -- Problems with full-cost-plus pricing -- Marginal-cost-plus pricing -- Activity-based costing (ABC) pricing -- Life-cycle costing and pricing -- Conclusions: costing for pricing -- The economist's perspective -- The marketer's perspective -- Combining the three perspectives: establishing an appropriate pricing strategy -- Pricing strategies -- Target pricing and target costing -- Value engineering -- Kaizen -- Conclusion -- Comprehension questions -- Exercises -- Answers to comprehension questions -- Answers to exercises -- 09 Investment decisions -- Objective -- Learning outcomes -- Key topics covered -- Management issues -- Introduction -- Investment appraisal - the basics -- Traditional evaluation techniques -- Incorporating real-world complexities into investment appraisal -- Investment appraisal within context -- Taking a broader strategic view -- Conclusion -- Comprehension questions -- Exercises.

Answers to comprehension questions -- Answers to exercises -- 10 Operational decisions -- Objective -- Learning outcomes -- Key topics covered -- Management issues -- Introduction -- Operational decision making -- Cost-volume-profit analysis (CVP) -- Relevant costing -- Conclusion -- Comprehension questions -- Exercises -- Answers to comprehension questions -- Answers to exercises -- Appendix A: An introduction to double-entry bookkeeping -- Appendix B: International Accounting/Financial Reporting Standards (as at 02.04.2013) -- Appendix C: Example earnings announcements -- Appendix D: Discount tables -- Appendix E: Annuity factors -- Index.